Investigation Finds 220 Southern Baptist Church Workers Convicted of Sex Crimes Since 1998

Two Texas newspapers, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, investigated sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches. According to the reports, survivors had asked Southern Baptist Convention church leaders in 2007 to act, including by creating a public registry of predators who worked in churches.

The newspapers built a public database of more than 200 predators. The investigation found 220 people who, since 1998, worked or volunteered in Southern Baptist churches and were convicted of or pleaded guilty to sex crimes. A separate account of the reporting described 35 Southern Baptist pastors, youth ministers and volunteers who had been convicted of sex crimes or accused of sexual misconduct but kept working in churches. The two accounts use different counts and categories, and the source material does not reconcile them.

According to the reports, some offenders who kept working in churches were involved in repeated incidents of abuse in different church communities. Two of the predators worked at Second Baptist Church in Houston. The reports also say that church leaders in many cases failed to investigate abuse claims and allowed known offenders to move from congregation to congregation.

Gwen Casados told the Chronicle that her teenage daughter was sexually assaulted in the choir room by a church worker. The assault of a young person inside a church building underscores the call to protect the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

Church leaders responded to the newspaper reports by promising reforms comparable to some contemplated by Roman Catholic authorities. J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote in a blog post on Monday that there can be no ambiguity about the church’s responsibility to protect the abused. Victim advocates, however, said that SBC leaders can no longer be trusted to investigate abuse allegations on their own. The reports were published on Tuesday.

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention said that any church leader or member should contact law enforcement if they suspect sexual abuse in any congregation. An advisory group formed last year within the church was expected to release a report by May on how the denomination can prevent more abuse.