The Southern Baptist Convention, mired in a scandal involving accusations of sexual assault by a former leader, has resolved the matter with a confidential settlement, according to the Texas Tribune. The lawsuit, initiated by Duane Rollins in 2017, had accused Paul Pressler, a once-revered figure within the SBC and former Texas judge, of sustained abuse starting when Rollins was just 14 and part of Pressler's church youth group in Houston, reported by Texas Tribune.
Rollins' allegations, as he contested in legal documents, cascaded him into a life marred by substance dependencies, leading to extended periods behind bars. Having confided the purported sexual assaults to a prison psychiatrist, he subsequently took his case against Pressler to court, targeting not only the former judge but also the convention itself and Jared Woodfill, Pressler's long-standing law partner and one-time chair of the Harris County GOP, as per Texas Tribune.
Sparking a broader inquiry into the sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, the lawsuit contributed to a significant "Abuse of Faith" investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News in 2019, which brought to light how top officials within the SBC had long diminished or ignored warnings about widespread sexual misconduct. The investigation also induced a series of reforms within the SBC and instigated a still-ongoing federal probe from the Department of Justice, as stated by the Texas Tribune.
In the wake of Rollins' legal action, at least seven other individuals put forth their accounts of sexual improprieties by Pressler, stretching over four decades. Documents revealed in the lawsuit indicated that Woodfill, despite his vociferous anti-LGBTQ+ stance, continued to supply Pressler with young, male assistants well aware of the prowling allegations against him, as covered by KXAN.
