Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee vowed Tuesday to release a list of known sexual predators that a former attorney for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination had kept secret over liability concerns.
The list of more than 700 names will be reviewed so that the names of any abuse victims or other witnesses are redacted, said attorney Gene R. Besen of the Bradley law firm, outside counsel to the SBC.
The names of any suspected perpetrators whose accusations remain “uncorroborated” also will be blacked out from the list.
“Promptly releasing that list is in our best interest,” Mr. Besen told the SBC committee, which gathered via Zoom videoconference. “It’s important. It is of immediate concern to the public and to the survivor community. And we need to do it right away.”
Following the meeting, the Rev. Willie McLaurin, the executive committee’s interim president and CEO, said the review of the list “is being done carefully and as quickly as possible, with an anticipated release date of Thursday, May 26.”
Mr. McLaurin added the organization will work with D.C.-based Guidepost Solutions to provide a hotline for those who want to report abuse. He said the denomination will advertise the hotline phone number “as broadly and loudly as we are able” once it is established.
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Southern Baptist Christa Brown, who said she had been assaulted more than 30 times as a teenager by one of the church’s pastors, said on Twitter she was “a tiny bit hopeful” at the news the list would be released.
Mr. Besen said leaders of the 13.7 million-member denomination also will consider whether to “revoke” the retirement benefits of D. August Boto, a former executive committee vice president and general counsel who kept the list private for years.
In 2006, Mr. Boto told victim advocates that “continued discourse between us will not be positive or fruitful.”
A statement voted on by the committee Tuesday said the SBC “rejects this sentiment in its entirety and seeks to publicly repent for its failure to rectify this position and wholeheartedly listen to survivors.”
The group said the denomination’s leadership “seeks to make clear that it views engaging with survivors as a critical step toward healing our Convention from the scourge of sexual abuse and working to avoid its continued impact on our loved ones, their families, and our network of churches.”
Mr. McLaurin said leaders will “never know the full extent of the pain and the hurt that was caused to survivors” by the decadeslong coverup of abuse and the refusal to disseminate Mr. Boto’s compiled list.
Critics say releasing the list might have prevented the hiring of known abusers in other Southern Baptist churches.
“Today, on behalf of all Southern Baptists, I want to issue a formal apology and say that we are sorry to the survivors for all that we’ve done to cause hurt, pain and frustration. We’re committed today to gospel reconciliation that will lead toward peace,” he said.
The Rev. Ed Litton, the SBC’s president, said the denomination’s business session, which will be held in June in Anaheim, California, will consider specific measures to aid victims, including compensation.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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