Report: Southern Baptist Convention Silenced Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse to Protect Reputation

By The Associated Press via

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant group in the United States, harassed and denigrated survivors of clergy sexual abuse for nearly two decades to protect their reputations, according to a compelling 288-page investigation published Tuesday. Sunday.

These survivors, as well as other Baptists, repeatedly brought accusations before the SBC Executive Committee, “but were met, time and time again, with resistance, obstruction, and even outright hostility from some within the Committee. Executive,” the report says.

The seven-month investigation was carried out by the independent firm Guidepost Solutions, which was hired by the Executive Committee after delegates to last year's national meeting pushed for an independent investigation.

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a number of senior Executive Committee leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the Committee's response to these reports of abuse…and were singularly focused on avoiding Convention accountability. Southern Baptist,” the report says.

This Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, file photo shows the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn.AP

“In service of this goal, survivors and

, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that CBS could not take any action because of its policy regarding church autonomy, even if it meant that convicted abusers continued in ministry without disciplinary action or warnings to their current church or congregation,” the report added.

CBS President Ed Litton said in a statement Sunday that he is "grieved to the core" for the victims and thanked God for his work in carrying CBS forward to this point.

He called on Southern Baptists to mourn and prepare to change the culture of the organization and implement reforms.

“I pray that Southern Baptists begin preparing today to take deliberate steps to address these failures and chart a new course when we meet in Anaheim,” Litton said.

Key recommendations of the report include:

• Create an independent commission and then establish a permanent administrative entity to oversee comprehensive, long-term reforms related to sexual abuse and related misconduct within CBS.

• Create and maintain an offender information system to alert the community to known offenders.

• Provide a comprehensive toolkit with resources including protocols, training, education and practical information.

• Restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements and civil agreements, which bind survivors to confidentiality in cases of sexual abuse, unless requested by the survivor.

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The sexual abuse scandal came into the spotlight in 2019 following a landmark report by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News that documented hundreds of cases at Southern Baptist churches, including several in which

Last year, thousands of delegates at the CBS national meeting sent the message that they did not want the Executive Committee to oversee an investigation into their own actions.

Instead, they voted overwhelmingly to create the task force tasked with overseeing the third-party review.

Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama, appointed the panel.

Executive Committee members had a week to review the report before it was made public on Sunday afternoon.

The task force's recommendations based on the Guidepost findings will be presented at the CBS annual meeting in Anaheim, California, on June 14-15.

In February, the Executive Committee offered a public apology and a confidential monetary settlement to sexual assault survivor Jennifer Lyell, who was convicted by the group's internal news service when she decided to go public with her story in March 2019.

Lyell publicly revealed that she was a survivor of sexual abuse after learning that the man she accused of abuse, a former Southern Baptist seminary professor, had recently returned to ministry.

She said that she came forward with her story to prevent the man from committing further abusive acts.