A4 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, MAY 27 , 2022
BY SARAH PULLIAM BAILEY,
MICHELLE BOORSTEIN
AND MARISA IATISouthern Baptist leaders on
Thursday evening released a list
of alleged church-related sexual
abuse offenders that denomina-
tion heads had kept secret for
more than a decade. The Execu-
tive Committee for the Southern
Baptist Convention said earlier
this week that it would publish
the names after it issued a third-
party investigation that suggest-
ed a widespread coverup by top
leaders who ignored and even
“vilified” people who came for-
ward with stories of abuse.
The database, which an SBC
attorney said includes people who
have been criminally convicted of
abuse and those who have con-
fessed to abuse, is expected to
show what top leaders knew be-
hind the scenes while telling
Southern Baptists they could not
create a list of accused abusers
because the denomination is not
hierarchical and churches oper-
ate independently from one an-
other.
A description at the top of the
document reads: “This is a fluid,
working document.” It consists of
names, the date the person was
reported and information largely
pulled from news articles, com-
piled from 2007 until 2022. “It is
incomplete. It has not been
proofed. It has not been adequate-
ly researched. It is not Southern
Baptist specific,” the document
reads. It notes that, after June
2008, “only alleged/convicted
names of abusers and [titles] of
articles were cataloged.”
The release of the database
comes 15 years after Christa
Brown began sounding the alarm
that Southern Baptists needed to
keep such a list to prevent abusers
from transferring from church to
church. She first told SBC leaders
in 2004 that she had been abused
by a youth pastor who went on to
serve in other Southern Baptist
churches in multiple states. But
the report published Sunday by
the SBC said she was met with
hostility when she suggested the
idea in 2007.
Brown, 68, was emotional
Thursday when she learned that
the man she alleges abused her
was listed in the database — an
official acknowledgment by the
Southern Baptist Convention.
“This means so much to us
survivors,” she said. “It’s a reflec-
tion of how cruel it was to stone-
wall any kind of validation for
decades. For survivors to heal,
this kind of validation is an ac-
knowledgement of the truth of
the horror of what was done to
us.”
The man she alleges abused
her, who has not been charged or
convicted, hung up the phone in
response to a Washington Post
request for comment. She said the
man began to abuse her in 1968
and that when she initially pur-
sued a civil case against him in
2005, the statute of limitations
had expired.
But, Brown said, the list is also
a “very small measure of justice.”
“They don’t get to pat them-
selves on the back for this,” Brown
added. “I’m sorry. God only knows
why they were keeping it secret.
It’s the very tiniest thing of what
needs to be done.”
Before releasing the list, attor-
neys for the SBC said they would
redact survivors’ names and try to
ensure that they only include
names of people who were “credi-
bly accused.” That includes pas-
tors, denominational workers,
ministry employees or volunteers
who have confessed to abuse,
been convicted in a court of law, or
had a civil judgment rendered
against them. Also, an independ-
ent third party could determine
that someone was “credibly ac-
cused” by a “preponderance of the
evidence.”
“This is a critical first step,” said
Rachael Denhollander, an attor-
ney and former gymnast who out-
ed former USA Gymnastics team
physician Larry Nassar over his
serial sexual assaults and is now
an adviser on a Southern Baptist
task force on the issue. “It at least
begins to demonstrate a level of
transparency and accountability.”
The SBC has long sought to
distinguish itself from the Catho-
lic Church’s sexual abuse scandal
by saying its churches were inde-
pendent from one another. But
University of Pennsylvania pro-
fessor Marci Hamilton, an expert
on laws aimed at preventing child
abuse, said the SBC has no stand-
ing in distinguishing itself legallyfrom the Catholic Church in terms
of its responsibility to victims, be
they minors or adults when inci-
dents happen. The SBC, she said,
is the “governing body of the
whole church, so they are respon-
sible for the policies and for the
coverup, which is evident.”
As penalties including billions
of dollars have been levied in the
past 20 years against the Catholic
Church, Hamilton said, other
non-Catholic religious groups
have argued that their structure
and beliefs make them different
when it comes to liability. South-
ern Baptist and nondenomina-
tional groups have said they are
too loosely affiliated to be liable,
but she said courts have found
otherwise when they have looked
at other faith groups.
“The question is: Did they act
recklessly, endangering children
and adults? And the answer is
yes,” Hamilton said. “They took
unreasonable risks, lacked effec-
tive prevention policies, and put
individuals in their flocks at risk
of being sexually assaulted and
abused, by leaving the abusers in
positions of authority and not
alerting the public and by bypass-
ing going to the authorities. This
defense they’ve been saying —
‘We’re organized differently’ — is
full of holes. That is no defense.”
Hamilton said victims who
were minors at the time of the
abuse and came forward as adults
can have a harder time because of
slowly changing statutes of limi-
tations. However, more states are
extending deadlines for people to
bring civil cases.
The third-party investigation
by Guidepost Solutions, commis-sioned by Southern Baptists at
their annual convention last year
and released Sunday, focused nar-
rowly on the SBC’s Nashville-
based Executive Committee, the
second-smallest organization
within the SBC that handles the
finances and administration, in-
cluding distributing funds that
come in from churches around
the country to its other organiza-
tions.
Two Southern Baptist leaders,
Kevin Ezell of the North Ameri-
can Mission Board and Danny
Akin of Southeastern Baptist
Theological Seminary, said this
week that they would invite
Guidepost to investigate allega-
tions in their organizations.
Akin said in an interview that
he knew of maybe three or four
instances of alleged sexual abuse
in his 19 years at Southeastern,
including one that ultimately led
to the firing of former Southeast-
ern president Paige Patterson,
who was named in the Guidepost
report.
Akin said he is recommending
to his board of trustees that Pat-
terson’s name be removed from
one of the seminary’s buildings.
Patterson was fired from another
seminary in 2018 after his board
of trustees said he had mishan-
dled two women’s cases of sexual
abuse, including one at South-
eastern.
The Guidepost report also al-
leged that Johnny Hunt, a former
North American Mission Board
vice president and longtime pas-
tor, sexually assaulted a woman,
which he has denied on Twitter.
Akin said the seminary has al-
ready removed his name fromprograms and facilities.
Akin said he was close to both
Patterson and Hunt and called the
last several days “some of the
saddest of my life.”
“My heart’s just crushed, but
that has not changed my love for
[Johnny], and I’m praying he’ll
respond appropriately and know
Southern Baptists are forgiving
people,” Akin said. “I think if he
tells us what is right, he will
receive that forgiveness. Doesn’t
mean he’ll be a pastor or any-
thing, but I believe he could serve
significantly. But we’ll see.”
Several sexual abuse survivors
have said they plan to fly to Ana-
heim, Calif., for the SBC’s annual
meeting next month because they
see momentum for potential
change. Among them is Jules
Woodson, whose 2018 allegation
that her Southern Baptist youth
pastor sexually assaulted her was
viewed as one of the major points
that led the denomination to con-
front sex abuse.
On Thursday night, Woodson
sobbed when she knew that Andy
Savage, whom she says abused her
when she was 17, was listed in the
database. In 2018, Savage, who
has not been charged or convict-
ed, publicly admitted to “a sexual
incident,” said he was “deeply sor-
ry” and received a standing ova-
tion from his congregation.
“I feel acknowledged for the
first time in a long time,” Wood-
son said. “They knew. They knew,
and they did nothing.”
Savage, who is a pastor at a
non-SBC church in Tennessee,
could not be reached for com-
ment.
Woodson said leaders of theSBC church she was attending
when she was abused in 1998 had
told her to remain quiet, and by
the time she decided to speak out,
the statute of limitations had ex-
pired. Her story went viral in
2018, and this is the first time the
SBC has acknowledged Savage’s
name publicly.
Woodson said she was later
committed to a psychiatric ward
because she was depressed and
had PTSD, lost her college degree
and the career that she wanted, as
a pilot (she is now a flight atten-
dant).
“I’ve lost so much,” she said
while sobbing.
Her mother said she would lose
her children if she came forward
with the story of her abuse.
Woodson, said she hopes the
SBC will pursue more action than
releasing the database Thursday,
including establishing a survivor
compensation fund and a memo-
rial for survivors in Nashville.
“Am I glad for the database?"
said Woodson, 41. "Yes. It’s one
piece of the puzzle.”
In 2019, Woodson wrote to the
leaders of Germantown Baptist
Church in Tennessee to see if they
would revoke the ordination of
the man who confessed to his
congregation that he had “a sex-
ual incident” with Woodson when
she was a teenager. According to
Woodson, a church leader wrote
back to her to say that the church
had no comment. It did not re-
spond to requests from The Wash-
ington Post for further comment.
The Executive Committee on
Wednesday set up a third-party
hotline for sexual abuse survivors,
run by Guidepost. The hotline
may be reached at (202) 864-
or SBChotline@guidepostsolu-
tions.com.
Mike Holloway, pastor of
Ouachita Baptist Church in Loui-
siana and a board member on the
Executive Committee, said while
he is in favor of releasing the
names to the public, he’s nervous
about the list including anyone
who has denied abusing someone.
“My fear is that we crucify and
then we find out six months later
we were wrong,” Holloway said.
“There may need to be repara-
tions made ... I’m all for that,
that’s where the churches have to
step in.”
Holloway was also nervous
about the idea floated earlier this
week that the Executive Commit-
tee could take retirement benefits
from longtime SBC leader August
Boto, one of the leaders named
throughout Guidepost’s report
who told members they couldn’t
develop a database. Guidepost’s
report revealed that a staff mem-
ber working him was maintaining
a secret list of accused ministers,
including the minister’s name,
year the accusation was reported,
relevant news articles, state and
denomination. Boto could not be
reached for comment.
“Are we saying a person has to
live a perfect life and makes a
mistake in judgment, we’re going
to do everything we can to punish
him and take his retirement?”
Holloway said. “There’s not much
grace in that.”Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this
report.Southern Baptists release database of alleged abusers
JULIE BENNETT/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Christa Brown speaks at a 2019 rally in Birmingham, Ala. Brown first told Southern Baptist Convention leaders in 2004 that she had been
abused by a youth pastor who went on to serve in other Southern Baptist churches in multiple states.Publication follows
inquiry that suggestedcoverup by denomination
BY DEVLIN BARRETTTwo former FBI agents ac-
cused of mishandling sex-abuse
allegations against former USA
Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar
will not be charged with a crime,
the Justice Department an-
nounced Thursday.
In a statement, officials said
that after a “careful re-review of
evidence,” the department “is ad-
hering to its prior decision not to
bring federal criminal charges,”
adding: “This does not in any way
reflect a view that the investiga-
tion of Nassar was handled as it
should have been, nor in any way
reflects approval or disregard of
the conduct of the former
agents.”
John Manly, a lawyer for many
of Nassar’s alleged victims, called
the decision “incomprehensible”
and said the FBI agents “violated
their oaths of office and colluded
in the cover up of the worst
sexual assault scandal in the
history of sports.” He said the
timing of the announcement —
shortly before a holiday weekend,
and during coverage of a school
shooting — “is one more cynical
attempt by the [Justice Depart-
ment] to cover up FBI complici-
ty” in the Nassar scandal.
The decision marks the third
time that federal prosecutors ex-
amined whether a senior FBI
official and a case agent should
be charged with lying about their
work on the Nassar case. Deputy
Attorney General Lisa Monaco
opened the review after several
world-famous gymnasts in Sep-
tember gave tearful testimony to
Congress, describing in horrify-
ing detail the abuse they endured
and their incredulity over the
FBI’s decision not to further in-
vestigate Nassar after the allega-
tions against him first surfaced.
Monaco, in announcing the
review, said officials would look
again at the issue because new
evidence had surfaced. Though
she did not specify what that
evidence was, lawmakers have
sharply criticized the Justice De-
partment for not pursuing charg-
es after the agency’s inspector
general concluded a supervisory
agent and his boss lied to internal
investigators in a bid to cover up
their failures.
It is rare for the Justice Depart-
ment even to consider reopening
a case that was closed without
charges. One of the Nassar agents
retired years ago and the other
was fired last summer in the
wake of Justice Department In-spector General Michael Horo-
witz’s scathing report, which
found major missteps in the FBI’s
handling of allegations against
Nassar in 2015 that allowed him
to victimize more patients before
he was arrested by state authori-
ties the following year.
In its statement, the Justice
Department said it will “continue
to learn from what occurred in
this matter, and undertake ef-
forts to keep victims at the center
of our work and to ensure that
they are heard, respected, and
treated fairly throughout the
process, as they deserve,” and
said it wanted to work with
Congress to address unspecified
gaps in the law to “help prevent
events like this from taking place
in the future and hold perpetra-
tors accountable.”
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-
Conn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
called the decision “infuriating.”
In a joint statement, they said:
“FBI agents who knew of Larry
Nassar’s abuse, did nothing, and
then lied about it will face no
legal consequences for their ac-
tions. Dozens of athletes would
have been spared unimaginable
abuse if these agents had just
done their jobs. Their actions
demand accountability.”Simone Biles and three other
high-profile gymnasts gave emo-
tional testimony to the Senate
Judiciary Committee last year
about Nassar’s abuse and the
FBI’s failure to act.
“I blame Larry Nassar, and I
also blame an entire system that
enabled and perpetrated his
abuse,” Biles told the committee.
More than 330 girls and wom-
en have come forward to say they
were victimized by Nassar under
the guise of medical treatments.
He was ultimately convicted of
state sex abuse and federal child-
pornography charges, and is
serving an effective life sentence
in prison.
Monaco and FBI Director
Christopher A. Wray have also
issued public apologies to Nas-
sar’s victims, and Wray called the
bureau’s failures “inexcusable. It
never should have happened, and
we’re doing everything in our
power to make sure it never
happens again.”
The key conduct at issue in the
Nassar case occurred well within
the federal statute of limitations
for prosecuting those involved.
Supervisory Special Agent Mi-
chael Langeman, who was fired
last year, allegedly lied to the
inspector general’s office in inter-views in 2020 and 2021, accord-
ing to Horowitz’s report.
Langeman was questioned at
length about why he did not
pursue a case against Nassar,
whether he had in fact referred
the matter to a different FBI
office and why he wrote a report
of an interview with a key victim
more than a year after the inter-
view took place.
The inspector general report
did not identify Langeman by
name but found that he lied to
investigators “in an effort to min-
imize or excuse his errors.”
Horowitz also found that while
the FBI was dealing with the
Nassar allegations in late 2015,
the head of the FBI’s Indianapolis
office, W. Jay Abbott, talked to
Stephen Penny, then president of
USA Gymnastics, about getting
Abbott a job with the Olympic
Committee.
The inspector general said Ab-
bott applied for the job but did
not get it, and when confronted
about it in 2019, he falsely
claimed to the inspector general
that he had not sought the job.
Penny resigned under pres-
sure from his job with USA Gym-
nastics in 2017 and was charged
in 2018 with evidence-tampering
in the sex-abuse case. Thosecharges were dismissed last
month. Abbott retired from the
FBI.
Langeman and Abbott did not
immediately respond to requests
for comment.
One of the FBI’s chief failures
in the Nassar case was not alert-
ing state authorities to the possi-
bility that he might be commit-
ting sex crimes against children
— crimes that state prosecutors
could, and eventually did, charge
him with.
In response to that criticism,
Justice Department officials have
told federal prosecutors and
agents to coordinate more closely
with state and local law enforce-
ment about potential crimes that
may fall outside federal law but
may still be worth pursuing.
“Even in those instances where
the federal government cannot
bring its own criminal charges,
our obligation to protect crime
victims and ensure public safety
does not end,” Monaco wrote in a
Justice Department memo. “In-
stead, proper coordination with
state, local, or tribal law enforce-
ment partners may become more
important, particularly in the
face of apparent, ongoing crimi-
nal behavior that puts victims at
risk.”Justice Department won’t charge FBI agents accused of botching Nassar case
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