UNITED STATES
Baptist News
BOB ALLEN | JUNE 3, 2016
As the Southern Baptist Convention prepares to gather for its annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis, leaders of a support group for survivors of institutional sex abuse called on denominational leaders to take action to prevent the next “Spotlight”-style exposé from targeting the nation’s second-largest Christian group.
Executive Director David Clohessy and Outreach Director Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests released an open letter asking two top SBC officials to create a central “safe place” office to which Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors can file reports about their alleged perpetrators.
The SNAP leaders said “it is flat-out cruel” to tell clergy abuse survivors they must go to the church of the accused pastor if they want to report that pastor within the faith community.
“This is like telling abuse survivors that they must go to the den of the wolf who savaged them,” they said. “It is a response that inflicts additional harm on greatly wounded people and that turns a cold shoulder to those who seek only to protect others.”
Ten years ago SNAP asked SBC officials to establish an independent review board to receive and evaluate reports and keep a database of clergy credibly accused, confessed or convicted of sexual abuse. After study denominational leaders ruled the idea unfeasible, saying the convention lacked authority to investigate local congregations, which are free to call their own ministers.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.