Southern Baptist Convention under federal investigation over *abuse scandal, #Southern #Baptist #Convention #federal #investigation #* #abuse #scandal Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Federal investigators investigate the Southern Baptist Convention on Abuse Treatment after the release of an explosive report that found top officials had spent 20 years silencing abuse survivors and implementing reforms out of fear of lawsuits, leaders of the world’s second-largest The country’s faith group said Friday.
In a statement, the SBC’s top leadership body, the Executive Committee, confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating “multiple” Southern Baptist entities.
The declaration has been signed by all leaders of the seminaries and main entities of the SBC. They said they will cooperate fully with the criminal investigation and “continue to grieve and complain about past mistakes”.
Leaders also noted that the faith group has taken numerous steps to resolve the abuse problem in the wake of a 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.
“Individually and collectively, each SBC entity is committed to fully and fully cooperate with the investigation,” the SBC’s Nashville executive committee said in a statement.
The Executive Committee has received a federal subpoena from the Department of Justice, but no individuals have yet been subpoenaed. Justice Department officials could not be reached for comment.
Albert Mohler, the longtime president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, told the Chronicle Friday afternoon that he was awaiting details of the investigation, but like other leaders, he promised his school would work with law enforcement.
“I don’t know anything specific about the investigation other than what I was told by counsel for the Executive Committee,” Mohler said in an interview before the investigation was made public. “But as far as we are concerned, we believe in the rule of law. We respect law enforcement and we will cooperate fully with federal authorities.”
The federal inquiry introduces an unprecedented level of scrutiny over the 47,000-church coalition. The SBC is the world’s largest Baptist group.
ABUSE OF FAITH: 20 years, 700 victims: Sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reform
The SBC’s handling of abuse has been in the public eye since 2019, when the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News published the first of an ongoing series, Abuse of Faith, which found that hundreds of church leaders and volunteers had been convicted of *crimes .
They left at least 700 victims, almost all children.
Newspaper coverage last year led members of the Southern Baptist church to request a third party review of the SBC’s Executive Committee’s handling of abuse reports dating back to 2000.
FALLOUT: if ex-southern Baptist figure alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’, prominent leader defends response to abuse
Representatives of the SBC Church also demanded that the Executive Committee grant the company, Guidepost Solutions, unprecedented access to confidential attorney and client files for review.
Guidepost spokesman Montieth Illingworth declined to say Friday whether the company had been subpoenaed or answer other questions about the federal investigation. Under the company’s agreement with the SBC, Guidepost is required to alert Southern Baptist officials when it receives law enforcement requests for documents.
“Guidepost will notify the SBC of any attempt…whether by subpoena or otherwise to access any information, documents, materials or work products, or information of any kind in Guidepost’s possession that has been generated, obtained or learned as a result of Guidepost’s work,” the agreement reads.
FROM MAY: Bombshell 400-Page Report Finds Southern Baptist Leaders Routinely Silenced *Survivors of Abuse
In May, Guidepost revealed that a handful of longtime Southern Baptist leaders and lawyers had mishandled abuse complaints, discredited victims and rejected proposed reforms that could have protected children from predators.
One of the revelations was that a longtime SBC attorney, August “Augie” Boto, had secretly maintained a list of accused* abusers in Southern Baptist churches. The Chronicle identified 75 pastors on the list who had worked in churches in Texas.
SURVIVORS SPEAK: Christa Brown has been warning Southern Baptists about abuse for decades. Recent revelations brought her “no joy.”
Meanwhile, Boto said a public version of such a database was not feasible and rejected efforts by proponents to create one as a background tool for churches to weed out problematic employees and volunteers.
Guidepost also uncovered* allegations of assault against a former SBC president, Johnny Hunt, which allegedly occurred just after he left office due to term limits in 2010. Hunt has admitted it was inappropriate but insists it was consensual . He resigned from a top position at an SBC entity prior to the Guidepost report, and numerous SBC organizations have since cut ties with him.
RELATED: Explosive report of alleged* abuse by SBC leader Johnny Hunt. His prosecutor is still waiting for justice.
The Guidepost report was responded to quickly. A former SBC official, prominent evangelical leader Russell Moore, called it the “Southern Baptist apocalypse” and said the findings amounted to a “criminal conspiracy.”
As the fallout from the report continued this summer, SBC church representatives overwhelmingly approved at their June meeting, including a database of accused pastors that churches could consult when making hiring decisions.
The SBC has also elected new leaders who were particularly outspoken about the need for abuse reform, including Texas pastor Bart Barber, who vowed to turn the SBC’s 47,000 churches into places where predators were “hunted.”
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