Sexual Abuse

MARATHON, Fla. (BP) – A Florida Keys pastor was arrested Monday (March 4) for sexually molesting a minor. The incident happened on church property.

South Carolina pastor arrested for ‘aiding or abetting prostitution’; Former Saddleback youth volunteer awaiting trial on abuse charges.

NASHVILLE (BP) — It was meant to be a moment of levity, one that pointed to the current financial challenges of the Southern Baptist Convention amid a desire to continue a response to sexual abuse reform that first gained a foothold in the Executive Committee five years ago.

NASHVILLE (BP) – In a press conference Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 20), the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force chairman Josh Wester reiterated that the ARC, a new organization he announced to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee the night before, would be an independent 501(C)(3), separate from the Southern Baptist Convention.

NASHVILLE (BP) — A soon-to-be launched independent non-profit organization will be devoted to helping Southern Baptist churches and entities prevent and respond to sexual abuse.

(RNS) — The Austin Stone Church, a multicampus evangelical church in Austin, Texas, announced on Sunday (Feb. 11) that it had dismissed its head worship pastor after discovering he had engaged in “inappropriate and explicit ongoing text messages with an adult male,” according to a statement from the church’s elders.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) – A longstanding hallmark of protecting children from sexual abuse has been teaching them that strangers are dangerous, but 90 percent of sexually abused boys and girls know their abuser.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP) – Revelations of nondisclosure agreements for members of an investigatory committee, the retirement of its executive pastor and calls for a change in leadership have taken place over the past few months, including the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church stating that “nothing is more important than keeping our members and children safe.” 

NASHVILLE (BP) – An email revealed on X (formerly Twitter) Jan. 19 shows an April 2021 update from a former Southern Baptist Convention attorney to his client, then-SBC EC executive vice president.

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (BP) — Members of First Baptist Church learned via a statement read aloud by Senior Pastor Matt Brooks during worship on Sunday, Jan. 14, of an allegation of sexual abuse from 2006 and subsequent steps to address it.