Southern Baptists accused of cover-up of sexual abuse accusations

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August “Augie” Boto who served as Executive Committee vice-president, and later President along with other staff members “main concern was avoiding any potential liability for the SBC,” according to the report.

 Roger “Sing” Oldham who served as  Executive Committee vice president for convention communications and relations 2007-2019 said he was sending regular updates for “the past decade” to Boto. His reports included news articles of Baptist ministers arrested for sexual abuse. And by mid- 2018, the list contained the names of 585 possible abusers.

Recommendations

Attorneys Guenther, Jordan & Price served as legal counsel for the SBC Executive Committee. Partner in the firm, Jim Guenther announced the end of its 56-year representation on Oct. 11, 2021. They resigned after the Committee voted to waive attorney-client privilege for purposes of the Guidepost investigation.

Specifically, the statement disagreed “with many of the characterizations in the report and its assignment of ill will and bad motives to men and women of the Executive Committee who struggled year after year with complex issues,” as well as “the lack of understanding the report shows for the role and responsibility of legal counsel.”