Punish Apparent Cover-Up of Horrific Sex Abuse by Church Leaders

Target: Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney-General

Goal: Prosecute claims that Southern Baptist leaders ignored numerous sexual abuse allegations made against clergy.

Another explosive scandal has rocked churches. When reports came to light in recent years that thousands of Catholic clergy had been accused of sexual abuse, outrage resulted. These horrific reports were made worse by allegations of a wide-spread and pervasive cover-up by church leaders. Now, history is seemingly repeating itself as the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) faces similar charges.

An independent investigation by the firm Guidepost Solutions alleges that members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee were alerted to reports of child sexual abuse dating back decades. In response, the report claims that “survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action, even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation.” Some former employees of the committee claimed that it long ago began compiling a list of accused abusers.

The SBC apparently confirmed this charge by recently making public such a list for the first time. This list is over 200 pages long and contains more than three times as many names, and each person on the list likely interacted with hundreds of children during their careers. Some of these ministers have since been indicted for sexual offenses, such as the youth pastor who was convicted of raping an eight-year-old girl and attempted to flee the country shortly thereafter.

Countless young people were allegedly abused by adults they trusted and then abused once again by the system they trusted. Sign the petition below to ensure that this cycle of abuse ends now.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Attorney-General Garland.

In 2019, a Texas report claimed that more than 300 Southern Baptist clergy had violated over 700 young survivors. Three years later, and the depths of this depravity are seemingly worse than imagined. Now, the Southern Baptist Convention is reeling from allegations that not only did it know about many of these reports but that its leadership engaged in a decades-long cover-up. The Convention has apparently reversed its posture from claiming these accusations were a “satanic scheme” a few years ago to offering apologies and transparency now.

They are holding meetings with reform and potential restructuring in mind, but where is the accountability? More importantly, where is the justice for the victims left devastated? These so-called spiritual leaders reportedly committed crimes and enabled abusers to continue wrecking lives unhindered. Please do not leave these troubling findings to an internal review and another potential cover-up.

Launch a federal investigation and hold every person who covered up these sex crimes legally accountable.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

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