HOUSTON (TX)
Baptist News Global [Jacksonville FL]
May 26, 2025
By Mark Wingfield
Gareld Duane Rollins, whose allegations of abuse by Houston judge Paul Pressler were ignored for decades by leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention, died May 23, according to Robert Downen, the journalist who reported on his case more than anyone else.
“Duane was one of the kindest and most courageous people I’ve ever met. I am absolutely devastated by this news, but am so honored to have been so close to him, and that he trusted me for eight years with his story,” wrote Downen, former reporter for the Houston Chronicle who now writes for Texas Monthly.
Downen said he learned of Rollins’ death from his attorney, who said Rollins died from cardiac arrest. “Duane had dealt for a long time with serious health issues stemming from addictions that were directly related to the trauma of his abuse,” Downen explained.
The reporter noted the irony that he learned of Rollins’ death just hours before the Texas House passed “Trey’s Law,” meaning the legislature banning the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence victims of child sexual abuse. That bill stems from massive abuse at Kamp Kanakuk in Missouri but drew support from a wide variety of survivors and their allies.
Knowing that bill passed and would be signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would have “meant so much to him,” Downen said of Rollins.
Just 17 months ago, a confidential settlement was reached in the lawsuit accusing Pressler of sexually abusing Rollins multiple times beginning in 1977. Rollins filed the lawsuit in 2017 accusing Pressler, a key architect of the “conservative resurgence” of the Southern Baptist Convention, of molesting him numerous times beginning when he was 14. Rollins said the sexual assaults included oral and anal sex that began after he enrolled in a Bible study led by Pressler.
Documents uncovered during the six-year court case disclosed that leaders of First Baptist Church of Houston were aware of Pressler’s alleged sexual activity with young men dating back to 2004.
Although Rollins got justice late in life, his persistent witness against Pressler helped spark a revolution.
“Without his decision to come forward — and facing seemingly insurmountable odds — the SBC abuse crisis would have never been brought to light. He changed so much,” Downen said.
Abuse reform advocate Christa Brown — a regular BNG columnist — tweeted news of Rollins’ death: “Heartbreaking news. Duane Rollins has died. Clergy sex abuse takes lives. The human cost is incalculable. And the SBC still does diddly-squat.”
Pressler died almost exactly a year ago, on June 7, 2024. His death and even his funeral were hidden from public knowledge until BNG broke the story June 15. Only after the settlement with Rollins did others in the SBC take the allegations against Pressler seriously — even though these accusations and others similar had been well-known for decades.
Rollins’ lawsuit against Pressler also changed Texas law, with help from the law firm Baker Botts.
Rollins faced a difficult life as an adult, a fact Pressler used against him as a defense. Downen wrote in 2023: “Rollins claimed in court documents that the alleged attacks pushed him into drug and alcohol addictions that kept him in prison throughout much of his adult life. After disclosing the alleged rapes to a prison psychiatrist, Rollins filed the suit in Harris County against Pressler along with other defendants who he accused of enabling or concealing Pressler’s behavior — including the Southern Baptist Convention and Jared Woodfill, the former chair of the Harris County GOP and Pressler’s longtime law partner.”
Downen further reported: “As part of Rollins’ suit, at least seven other men came forward with their own allegations of sexual misconduct by Pressler in incidents spanning four decades. The suit also showed that Woodfill, a prominent anti-LGBTQ activist, was aware of allegations that Pressler was a sexual predator but continued to provide him with young, male personal assistants who worked out of Pressler’s River Oaks home. Three of the men have alleged sexual abuse or misconduct.”
Likewise, SBC leaders were aware of the rumors and allegations against Pressler — which reportedly cost him a post in the administration of President George H.W. Bush — and did nothing.
Related articles:
Confidential settlement reached in Pressler sexual abuse case
New court documents show First Baptist Houston leaders knew of allegations against Pressler in 2004
Abuse case against Pressler may proceed, Texas Supreme Court rules
Paul Pressler’s accuser appeals abuse claim dismissed due to statute of limitations
Breaking news: Paul Pressler died and the SBC said nothing
Pressler’s power ensnares an unlikely victim, Al Mohler | Opinion by Marv Knox
What the SBC should do about its most famous accused sexual abuser | Opinion by Marv Knox