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Was Travis Payne Listed in the Southern Baptist Convention List of Abusers?

Travis Payne, a pastor at South Texarkana Baptist Church in Texarkana, Arkansas, was found guilty of sexual assault (victim was reported to be a 3-year-old). He was sentenced to five years in prison and later passed away.

Southern Baptist Convention Sexual Abuse Helpline

Southern Baptist Convention Report

According to the Washington Post, a 300-page report was launched on Sunday, May 22, 2022. The file consists of horrifying brand-new information relating to specific abuse instances and sheds light on how denominational authorities actively hindered abuse avoidance and change for years.

Southern Baptist Convention leaders have announced an extensive and independent third-party examination that discovered that abusers were typically overlooked, forgotten, or perhaps denounced by high-ranking church administrators from within this religious denomination of greater than 16 million people. Moreover, it disclosed these leaders often deceived their very own members to stop them from knowing the prevalent sexual misconduct.

Continue reading about the Southern Baptist Convention Report

A Record of Overlooked Misconduct

For almost twenty years, survivors who were sexually assaulted attempted to get in touch with the administration of the “SBC” regarding the ministers and church workers. Just about all of these disclosed occurrences fell beyond the SOL, making it uncertain the number of perpetrators were in fact incriminated. According to the report, a super secret record was kept. However, abuse victims’ cries for justice went unheeded as leaders from churches and organizations tried to safeguard themselves instead of those who have been taken advantage of by sexual abuse.

The report alleges that a major Southern Baptist official was credibly implicated of sexual assault merely 1 month after finishing his two-year stretch 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 accused of abusing a fellow congregant at a 2010 vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida. The North American Mission Board president declared he was uninformed of the allegations prior to Hunt resigning on May thirteenth.

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

Responsibility in the Southern Baptist Church

Russell Moore, the previous head of the SBC’s policy arm, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, mentioned ‘this is not all Southern Baptists, take a look at all the good we do.’ The bombshell report demonstrates a trend of stonewalling, intimidation, coverup, and retaliation.” He desires this report will deliver much-needed reform and hold those accountable for their sexual abuse.

The document claims that a principal Southern Baptist official was credibly implicated of sexual abuse no more than one month after completing his two-year term as the convention’s president. The report likewise names 3 previous presidents of the convention, a former vice president, and the previous head of the SBC’s administrative division as notable SBC leaders who helped in protecting and also motivated suspected sexual abusers.

To learn more about resources available for survivors in Arkansas, visit this page: https://abuseguardian.com/sexual-assault-lawyer/arkansas/sex-trauma-therapist-ar/

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