Mike Papantonio of Levin Papantonio Rafferty (LPR) last week announced that the firm will be fighting for justice on behalf of victims who suffered sexual abuse from individuals affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) member churches.
“There is no imaginable way to condone SBC leaders’ handling of these crimes,†Papantonio said. “Children who trusted their ministers to be good, godly people—and who trusted their churches as protectors of righteousness—were abused, demonized, abandoned, and left to live with lifelong physical and emotional injuries.
“All the while, SBC leaders did nothing to help—and nothing to prevent future abuses from occurring,†Papantonio said. “That’s about to change.â€
Papantonio’s announcement comes on the heels of a damning report from Guidepost Solutions, which was hired by SBC leaders to investigate two decades of alleged sexual abuse across a span of 47,000 SBC member churches. Guidepost released a report containing the findings of its 7-month-long investigation on Sunday, May 22.
The report contains details about:
- SBC sexual abuse reports and particular abusers
- SBC Executive Committee’s (EC) mishandling of sex abuse reports
- EC’s mistreatment of sexual abuse victims
- EC’S intimidation tactics with sexual abuse victims or advocates
- EC’s resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives
Investigators reported that the SBC had gathered the names of 703 sex abusers, 409 of whom were probably affiliated with the SBC. According to Guidepost, certain EC leaders and outside counsel controlled how SBC responded to reports of sexual abuse in member churches. Reports of abuse were reportedly mishandled and concealed. The Guidepost report further concludes that these response decisions were driven by the singular objective of avoiding SBC liability.
Reports of abuse were not investigated, and in many cases, ministers accused of sexual abuse were permitted to continue holding positions of power in SBC churches. Meanwhile, alleged abuse victims were vilified and/or broken down—their complaints of abuse ignored or trivialized. On top of it all, for decades, the EC reportedly ignored proposed reforms out of fear that adopting such reforms could incur legal liability for the organization.
Guidepost conducted 330 interviews and analyzed thousands of internal SBC files at the request of SBC delegates following a 2019 editorial series in the Houston Chronicle that exposed decades of sexual abuse in SBC churches. The investigation prompted the release of confidential documents and communications—including between SBC lawyers—that were previously confidential.
Houston Chronicle editors created a searchable online database with names and photos of church members accused of sex crimes over the years