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Abuse Guardians
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Was Douglas Myers Listed in SBC 2022 Report of Abusers?

Douglas Myers, former pastor of Triangle Community Church in Tavares, FL, as well as former pastor of Harbor Baptist Fellowship in Eustis, FL, Concord Baptist Church in Russellville, AL, and Bayside Baptist Church in Chesapeake Beach, pleaded guilty in 2007 to abusing a 13-year-old boy, a church member’s grandson, in 2006. In 2007, he was sentenced to 7 years in prison for lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor (under the age of 12) in Florida. After being released, he was convicted of child abuse in Maryland in 2012 for offenses committed in 1997, 1999, and 2001, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Southern Baptist Convention Sexual Abuse Helpline

Southern Baptist Convention Guidepost Report

According to the Washington Post, a 300-page report was released on Sunday, May 22, 2022. The file consists of terrible new details concerning particular abuse occurrences and sheds light on how denominational authorities actively opposed abuse avoidance and change for several years.

Southern Baptist Convention leaders have actually revealed a substantial and independent third-party examination that discovered that abusers were often disregarded, forgotten, or even condemned by upper-level church leaders from within this religious denomination of greater than 16 million people. In addition, it revealed these leaders often lied to their very own members to prevent them from knowing the widespread sexual misbehavior.

Click to continue reading more about the Southern Baptist Convention Guidepost Report

A Story of Overlooked Mishandling

For nearly two decades, victims who were sexually abused attempted to reach out to the administration of the Southern Baptist Convention in relation to the preachers and church workers. Nearly all of these reported incidents fell beyond the SOL, making it not clear the number of abusers were actually incriminated. According to the report, a super secret record was kept. Abuse victims’ cries for justice went ignored as leaders from churches and organizations attempted to protect themselves rather than those who have actually been taken advantage of by sexual abuse.

One victim described being treated with hostility as she claimed she was sexually abused by a youth pastor. The implicated pastor served in numerous Southern Baptist churches in several states. During a conference with the SBC leaders in 2007, a member of the Executive Council “turned his back to her during her speech and another chortled.”

Accountability in the Southern Baptist Church

Russell Moore, the previous head of the SBC’s policy branch, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, specified ‘this is not all Southern Baptists, take a look at all the good we do.’ The report shows a trend of stonewalling, retaliation, coverup, and intimidation.” He hopes this document will deliver much-needed reform and hold those responsible for their actions.

The document claims that a key Southern Baptist leader was credibly accused of sexual assault only one month after finishing his two-year term as the convention’s president. The report also names three prior presidents of the convention, a previous vice president, and the former head of the SBC’s administrative division as renoun SBC leaders who helped in covering up and also encouraged thought sexual abusers.

He wishes this report will bring much-needed change and hold those accountable for their horrific acts of abuse.

For more information about resources available to survivors in Florida, visit our page: https://abuseguardian.com/sexual-assault-lawyer/florida/sex-trauma-therapist-fl/

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