Was Thomas W. Wilson Listed in SBC Abuse Investigation?
Thomas W. Wilson, pastor of the Smithville Baptist Church in Watertown, New York, pleaded guilty in 2015 to allegations that he had sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl in 2008. Wilson received a ten-year probation sentence and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Southern Baptist Convention Report
According to the Washington Post, a 300-page report was released on Sunday, May 22, 2022. The report includes horrible new information concerning certain abuse occurrences and clarify how denominational officials actively hindered abuse avoidance and change for many years.
Southern Baptist Convention leaders have actually revealed a substantial and independent 3rd party examination that discovered that abusers were frequently disregarded, forgotten, or even criticized by high-ranking church authorities from within this religious denomination of larger than 16 million members. Furthermore, it uncovered these leaders often lied to their very own members to avoid them from knowing the unchecked sexual abuses.
Click to continue reading about the Southern Baptist Convention Report
A History of Ignored Mishandling
The report asserts that a key Convention leader was credibly accused of sexual assault only one month after completing his two-year term as the convention’s president. Furthermore, Johnny Hunt, a popular Georgia Southern Baptist preacher and senior vice president of the SBC’s objectives arm, was credibly implicated of assaulting a fellow congregant during a 2010 vacation in Panama City Beach, FL. The North American Mission Board president declared he was uninformed of the accusations prior to Hunt resigning on May thirteenth. The report also identifies three previous presidents of the convention, a previous vice president, and the former head of the SBC’s administrative arm as prominent SBC leaders who aided in covering up for and even encouraged suspected abusers.
One victim described being treated with animosity as she claimed she was sexually assaulted by a youth pastor. The accused pastor served in numerous Southern Baptist churches in numerous states. During a meeting with the SBC leaders in 2007, a member of the Exec Council “turned his back to her during her speech and another chortled.”
Accountability in the Southern Baptist Convention
Russell Moore, the former head of the SBC’s policy branch, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, stated ‘this is not all Southern Baptists, look at all the good we do.’ The report shows a trend of stonewalling, coverup, retaliation, and intimidation.” He anticipates this report will deliver much-needed reform and hold those accountable for their misconduct.
He desires this report will bring about much-needed change and hold those accountable for their horrific acts of abuse.
Visit our page to learn more about the resources and therapists available to survivors in New York: https://abuseguardian.com/sexual-assault-lawyer/new-york/sex-trauma-therapist-ny/
Abuse Guardian for New York
Comments for this article are closed.