ORLANDO (FL)
ChurchLeaders [Colorado Springs CO]
August 21, 2026
By Jesse T. Jackson
Protestant Accountability, a survivor-led nonprofit, announced the launch and expansion of ProtestantAccountability.org, a searchable database that collects publicly available information about Protestant clergy and other spiritual leaders who have been accused of committing, enabling, or mishandling sexual abuse.
During a video press release on Wednesday (Aug. 19), Chellee Taylor, president of Protestant Accountability and a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, said the organization was created by roughly a dozen survivors to “spread awareness, inform the public, protect potential victims, and help heal those who’ve already been wounded.”
Taylor emphasized that the organization does not conduct its own investigations or determine guilt. Instead, it gathers existing public information, including news reports, police reports and court records, and places that information in one searchable location so users can review the material themselves. For example, many citations come from The Roys Report, Baptist News Global, and local news sites.
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According to its website, Protestant Accountability says that it “functions as an interactive computer service that distributes content created or provided by other users and content providers. This site relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content.”
“If any incorrect information is found, please contact us and we will gladly correct it. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty,” Protestant Accountability states.
“Abuse and institutional failures are often hidden from public view. Our organization exists to bring these matters into the light by collecting and organizing publicly available information concerning sexual abuse and misconduct in religious settings,” it adds. “We document allegations, investigations, legal proceedings, convictions, and documented efforts to conceal, enable, or disregard abuse. By preserving these records, we seek to promote transparency, accountability, and the protection of those at risk.”
The site also provides a way for people to submit “new information,” “report inaccurate information,” or “provide updates to existing profiles.”
“We do not conduct investigations–we only accept entries for individuals with existing, publicly available information,” Protestant Accountability explains.
See original article for video.
Taylor said the database includes court documents, news coverage and, in some cases, opinion pieces and social media posts when those sources provide additional relevant information. She said the organization generally tries to avoid paywalled material so the information remains accessible to the public.
While the organization is currently focused primarily on sexual abuse and those accused of enabling or covering up abuse, its leaders said they hope to eventually expand the database to include allegations involving financial, physical and other forms of spiritual abuse.
Taylor said she and her husband have personally covered most of its expenses, with Protestant Accountability Vice President Dominique Benninger’s family also contributing. Basic expenses are currently about $700 per year, excluding costs such as insurance, website plugins, and potential legal expenses.
Although as many as 20 volunteers have participated, Taylor said only about four are currently active because of the emotional toll the work can take on survivors.
Taylor said the database already contains more than 2,700 names, but she stressed that its purpose goes beyond maintaining a list.
“It’s easy to look at this site and see over 2,700 names,” she said, “but what you don’t see are the tens of thousands of victims who have been harmed because no one was there to warn them.”
She said the organization’s ultimate goal is to prevent future abuse while helping acknowledge and support people who have already been harmed.
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At the time of publication, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) had the most people from a single denomination listed in the Protestant Accountability database, with 693. The Baptist category followed with 670, while Pentecostal/Charismatic had 408.
In a social media post, Boz Tchividjian, an attorney advocate for abuse survivors, described the database as an important resource.
“An important new resource has been launched! http://ProtestantAccountability.org brings publicly available information about Protestant leaders accused of abusing children or vulnerable adults together in one searchable database,” Tchividjian said. “Making this information easier to find can help protect others, bring greater transparency, and hold individuals and institutions accountable.”
SBC President Willy Rice and Seminary President Albert Mohler Also Listed
In addition to listing people who have been convicted of abuse, the database also includes those who have been “credibly accused” and leaders who are alleged to have “enabled, minimized, [failed] to report, covered up, or mishandled abuse.”
Among those listed are current Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Dr. Albert Mohler, former SBC President and former Executive Committee President Dr. Ronnie Floyd, former SBC President Paige Patterson, and former SBC President Johnny Hunt.
The database also includes people who have died, including former SBC Executive Committee member Paul Pressler.
Additionally, Becki Falwell, wife of former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., and Boz Tchividjian’s brother Tullian Tchividjian are listed in the database.
ChurchLeaders reached out to Taylor and asked why Mohler was included in the database.
“ProtesantAccountability.org does not accuse guilt of any persons on our site, we only provide already public information on not just alleged abusers, but also those who have enabled, minimized, fail to report, covered up, or mishandled abuse,” she said. “The site may also contain links to those who support abusers over victims or promote rape culture.”
“We are currently implementing new practices that would help distinguish between the alleged offenders and those who have mishandled accusations,” she added. “As a small non-profit our manpower is very limited. We appreciate your patience as we work to make our site easier to navigate for our users.”
When the site launched Monday, Aug. 17, Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., was included in the database but has since been removed.
When ChurchLeaders asked why Dever was removed, Taylor explained:
As we work through our new initiative of creating a category for the position of accused mishandling of abuse, we have begun going through the site and temporarily pulling those who are not directly alleged offenders. We want to make sure we do things as well as we can so until we can tighten up this category. [We] are creating a “holding space,” if you will, for this group of individuals. We have to go through each profile one by one so this will take time, as a result some of those accused of mishandling will still be public until we check them.
Just before this article was published, Mohler’s name appeared to have been removed from the database.
Taylor told ChurchLeaders, “He is one of [those] accused of mishandling that we are working to categorize.”
“His profile is temporarily unpublicized,” she explained. “We fully plan to republish all those who fit this claim, but as a small group of less than 5 it’s going to take time.”
Since its launch, Protestant Accountability has received more than 148,000 visitors.
Jesse is the Senior Content Editor for ChurchLeaders and Site Manager for ChristianNewsNow. An undeserving husband to a beautiful wife, and a father to 4 beautiful children. He is currently a church elder in training, a growth group leader, and is a member of University Baptist Church in Beavercreek, Ohio. Follow him on twitter here (https://twitter.com/jessetjackson). Accredited member of the Evangelical Press Association.