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Alabama Episcopal Diocese Investigates Allegations of Past Sex Abuse

By Greg Garrison
AL.com
February 12, 2016

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/02/alabama_episcopal_diocese_inve.html

Titus Battle says he was sexually abused more than 25 years ago while working at the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama office in downtown Birmingham. (Justin Yurkanin/AL.com)

A group of leaders from St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills recently asked the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct at diocesan headquarters that happened 25 years ago.

The diocese has responded by having a law firm conduct an investigation, led by lawyer Augusta Dowd.

The diocese is investigating allegations by former employee Tyrone Lucas, who now goes by the name Titus Battle.

Battle says a male administrator — who died in 1990 at age 56 after working for the diocese since 1971 — forced him to submit to sexual acts, threatening to withhold his pay as an office worker and revoke his college scholarship paid by the diocese.

Dowd engaged a former FBI agent and a former police chief to investigate the claims. The investigation "has been quite comprehensive and at this time is still ongoing," Dowd said.

"Our investigation is approaching its final stages and the Diocese remains committed to an independent full blown investigation of Mr. Battle's allegations," she said.

She referred other questions to the national Episcopal Church offices. The national church deferred to Alabama.

Rob Morpeth, current finance and administration officer of the diocese, said the allegations have been made before, and answers have been pursued before by church officials — but the time has come to have professionals investigate.

"I think we decided even though it's been looked into before we never went to the extra step of hiring an investigator," he said.

No current employees involved

No current diocese employees were involved in the alleged misconduct, which took place over the course of several years in the late 1980s, Battle said. Episcopal Bishop Furman Stough, who died in 2004 and is not accused of any wrongdoing, met Battle, who was serving time for car theft at Draper Correctional Facility, through the Kairos prison ministry. Stough picked Battle up on the day he left prison, took him to Camp McDowell for the summer, gave him a scholarship to UAB in the fall and set him up with an apartment on campus and a job.

Battle's job at the diocesan headquarters office in downtown Birmingham included printing newsletters, answering the telephone and janitorial duties.

To pick up his paycheck, he was told to see the chief financial officer for the diocese. The administrator began to turn the work relationship sexual, Battle alleges.

"He connected my livelihood to this," Battle said. "He said, 'You are black and just out of prison and no one will believe you.' "

Studying at Miles College

Battle, 54, is currently homeless but sometimes stays with friends. He uses public transit to attend classes at Miles College and hopes to earn a bachelor's degree in education. He is widely known for mentoring youth and tutoring students, but acknowledges a past filled with mistakes, drug abuse and mental illness. And he acknowledges asking the diocese for money in the past to make up for what he claims happened to him.

He says what happened at the diocese office was "dehumanizing."

Ben Smolin, youth director at St. Thomas, said he learned of Battle's allegations last year while Battle worked at the church as a janitor. Smolin and two other church staff members brought the resurfaced allegations to the attention of the current diocesan leadership and asked for an investigation.

If true, the allegations are extremely troubling, Smolin said.

"This has to be looked into," he said.

'He has a cause'

Smolin has gotten to know Battle and met others who've known him over the years.

"I would describe Titus as a smart, compassionate person," Smolin said. "He has a certain wisdom, a certain spirituality. He wants to do right by the world."

Betty Roberts, who was diocesan youth director under Stough and attends St. Thomas, said it will be very difficult to verify Battle's claims. No one else still living likely knows the details, she said. She hopes Battle can let go of the past and move forward.

"He is a tremendously charismatic man," Roberts said. "He really has a way of drawing people to him. There's the potential for a lot of positive influence in the world."

Others who have helped him over the years remain optimistic about his future.

"I'd love to see him graduate," said Karen Carnohan, a member of Hunter Street Baptist Church who once assisted Battle. "He could be a good teacher."

Smolin's father, David Smolin, a law professor at Samford University and a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, believes there is a chance for redemption with Battle.

"He's eloquent, he has an amazing spirituality and he has a cause: that children be treated well," he said.

He could be an asset to the community, he said.

"Titus could easily be a bridge to all kinds of people," David Smolin said. "He talks about being abused in the name of God and trying to find a way back to God. That's what his story is about."

AL.com writer John Archibald contributed to this report.

 

 

 

 

 




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