Victims of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention were met with 'resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility,' according to a new investigative report.
You can now listen to Fox News articles! An investigative report into the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, found sexual abuse victimswere stonewalled and faced"outright hostility" by leadership, as suspected perpetrators were allowed to remain in leadership positions.
The 288-page investigative report from Guidepost Solutions, which was sanctioned by the SBC’s own Executive Committee, foundwere met with"resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility" from some church clergymen. FILE - This Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 file photo shows the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Leaders of the SBC, America's largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued Sunday, May 22, 2022. An investigation was initiated following the SBC’s national meeting last year when outsiders called the EC to take action. "Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse ... and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC," the report said. HUNDREDS OF SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADERS, VOLUNTEERS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT IN BOMBSHELL INVESTIGATION The report also found that suspected perpetrators of sexual assault were given"autonomy" and were even allowed to remain in ministry. "In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its polity regarding church autonomy – even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation," Guidepost Solutions found.In a statement Sunday, SBC President Ed Litton said he is"grieved to my core" and called on"I pray Southern Baptists will begin preparing today to take deliberate action to address these failures and chart a new course when we meet together in Anaheim [for the next SBC national meeting]," Litton said.SBC’s EC interim leaders Willie McLaurin and Rolland Slade said they intend to address the findings of the report. "We recognize there are no shortcuts," they said."We must all meet this challenge through prudent and prayerful application, and we must do so with Christ-like compassion." The report also tells the story of Christa Brown, who says she was sexually abused as a teen by the youth and education minister at her SBC church. FILE - In this Tuesday, June 11, 2019 file photo, Christa Brown, of Denver, Colo., speaks during a rally in Birmingham, Ala., outside the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. Brown, an author and retired attorney, says she was abused by a Southern Baptist minister as a child. After reading an investigative report released by the SBC on Sunday, May 22, 2022, Brown said it "fundamentally confirms what Southern Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors have been saying for decades. ... I view this investigative report as a beginning, not an end. The work will continue." Brown, who has been one of the most outspoken survivors, told investigators that during the past 15 years she has received"volumes of hate mail, awful blog comments, and vitriolic phone calls." After reading through the report, Brown told The Associated Press that it"fundamentally confirms what Southern Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors have been saying for decades." "I view this investigative report as a beginning, not an end. The work will continue," Brown said."But no one should ever forget the human cost of what it has taken to even get the SBC to approach this starting line of beginning to deal with clergy sex abuse."The Associated Press contributed to this report. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox
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Report: Top Southern Baptists Stonewalled Sex Abuse VictimsTop Southern Baptists stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades, according to a scathing investigative report issued Sunday. The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination. The 288-page report states survivors and others repeatedly shared allegations with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. They were met with resistance and outright hostility from within the top administrative committee, the report says. The seven-month investigation was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Executive Committee. Last year, delegates at the SBC’s national gathering demanded the committee should not be allowed to investigate itself and set this third-party review into motion.
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Report: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victimsTop Southern Baptists stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades, according to a scathing investigative report issued Sunday
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Report: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victimsLeaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost...
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Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victims for years: reportThe investigation was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Executive Committee after delegates to last year’s national meeting pressed for a probe by outsiders.
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Report: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victimsTop Southern Baptists stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades, according to a scathing investigative report issued Sunday.
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Southern Baptist report finds leaders mishandled sexual abuse claims and stonewalled survivors'While stories of abuse were minimized, and survivors were ignored or even vilified,' report finds.
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