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Southern Baptists sexual abuse scandal prompts calls for criminal investigations, comparisons to Catholics
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Washington Post
Posted: February 25th, 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/02/12/southern-...
A report published in two Texas newspapers this past weekend detailing 20 years of sexual abuse allegations within the nations largest Protestant denomination has sparked calls for authorities to investigate whether leaders covered up abuse and allowed the accused to continue working in churches. The investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News found more than 380 clergy and volunteers had been charged with sexual misconduct over two decades, leaving behind more than 700 victims to deal with the aftermath. The stories set off the sort of shock waves in the 15-million-member Southern Baptist Convention that similar blockbuster investigations have been causing ever since the Boston Globes Spotlight team exposed abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002. Most of the instances of abuse identified by the Texas newspapers involve pastors and volunteers who have already been charged with sex crimes. None of the leaders of the denomination have been charged with covering up such crimes. Within the Southern Baptist Convention, however, some had already began the call for a wider investigation. When we learn of any information that provides evidence that anyone has committed this type of crime or has attempted to cover it up, it should be investigated by the criminal authorities, said Boz Tchividjian, the grandson of evangelical leader Billy Graham and founder of GRACE, an organization that fights child abuse.
Note: Read a thorough three-part story on this scandal on the website of the Houston Chronicle. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing sexual abuse scandal news articles from reliable major media sources.
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