A Southern Baptist pastor who previously served as a seminary administrator has been indicted in federal court on one charge of falsifying records to cover up a report of sexual abuse.
This is the first indictment of a Southern Baptist Convention official amid several years of reckoning over sexual abuse claims and the mishandling of those claims.
The May 21 indictment of Matthew Queen, 49, in the Southern District of New York is the first visible fruit of an FBI investigation of the SBC that began in 2022. If convicted, Queen could face up to 20 years in federal prison.
Queen, now pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., was arraigned on the charge before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan Tuesday. He had begun serving the North Carolina church just months ago after relocating from Texas.
He is a former evangelism professor who previously held the L.R. Scarborough Chair…
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