[1]Editor’s note: This story was updated after initial publication to note that it was the Sillses’ attorneys who contacted Jen Lyell’s father.
NASHVILLE (BP) – Michael David Sills and his wife Mary are no longer seeking damages [2] against the estate of the late Jennifer Lyell in a lawsuit stemming from Lyell’s accusation of sexual abuse against Sills.
“Plaintiffs elected to not proceed with claims against the decedent’s estate,” attorneys for the Sills said in a Sept. 12 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The Sillses’ counsel has spoken with Lyell’s father, according to the court filing, who said an estate had not been opened for Lyell since her June death from a stroke.
Sills, a former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) professor, and his wife contend in the 2022 lawsuit [3] that he never abused or forced himself on Lyell. The Sillses continue to accuse the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC Executive Committee and eight individuals and entities related to the SBC of “defamation, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and wantonness concerning untrue claims of sexual abuse.”
In addition to the SBC and its Executive Committee, remaining defendants are former SBC presidents Bart Barber and Ed Litton, Lifeway Christian Resources, former Lifeway executive Eric Geiger, former SBC Executive Committee Interim President Willie McLaurin, former SBC Executive Committee Chairman Rolland Slade, SBTS and its president Albert Mohler, Solutionpoint International, Inc. doing business as Guidepost Solutions and Guidepost Solutions LLC.
Defendants filed motions Sept. 19 for summary judgment in the lawsuit, the majority consistently stating that the plaintiffs “fail to establish any evidentiary support for their claims of tortious conduct,” according to court documents.
Various documents related to the motions were sealed, including motions for summary judgment filed on behalf of Guidepost Solutions LLC and various related motions filed by attorneys for Mohler and SBTS. The EC’s motion for summary judgment can be read here [4].
The Sillses continue to accuse defendants of “making an example out of SBC member and employee David Sills who, without controversy, had admitted to an affair with Lyell and willingly accepted the SBC requirement that he depart from his position at the Seminary.”
Baptist Press reported on Lyell’s allegations of being sexually abused by Sills on March 8, 2019. The story was later removed and an explanation [5] was issued on Oct. 15, 2019.
The Executive Committee formally apologized [6] to Lyell on Feb. 22, 2022, for “its failure to adequately listen, protect, and care for Jennifer Lyell when she came forward to share her story of abuse by a seminary professor.”
In addition, the EC acknowledged “its failure to report Ms. Lyell’s allegations of non-consensual sexual abuse were investigated and unequivocally corroborated by the SBC entities with authority over Ms. Lyell and her abuser.”
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