A lawsuit accusing the Presbyterian Church (USA) of failing to protect the children of missionaries from sexual abuse has been filed.

California resident Sean Coppedge filed the claim on Monday saying that PC(USA) officials ignored his report of being sexually abused when he was 14 during his stay at a boarding house in Congo in 1988.

"On the night I was sexually abused I immediately informed the Presbyterian authorities, but little was done, even though they knew the perpetrator had abused at least one other person prior to me," Coppedge said according to The Courier-Journal.

Problems with sexual abuse on the mission field were acknowledged by PC(USA) in October in a report from the group's Independent Abuse Review Panel, which published a report more than 500 pages long. The denomination has note commented on the Coppedge case.

The 2-million-member PC(USA) is the nation's largest Presbyterian denomination and currently has more than 200 missionaries serving in other countries.