Top Southern Baptist committee funds sex abuse probe

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A apical Southern Baptist Convention committee agreed Tuesday to money a third-party probe into its handling of intersexual maltreatment allegations but held disconnected connected waiving its attorney-client privilege for the probe, delaying for the aboriginal a determination seen arsenic a cardinal request of the thousands of Southern Baptists who acceptable the reappraisal successful motion.

The Executive Committee allocated $1.6 cardinal for Guidepost Solutions, the steadfast conducting the probe into allegations it mishandled maltreatment cases, resisted reforms and intimidated survivors and advocates. They besides agreed to taking much clip to negociate the declaration and different ineligible questions related to the investigation.

“I deliberation it’s a bully measurement and I deliberation that it shows our unity connected the urgency of the matter,” Executive Committee Chair Rolland Slade said.

The decision, the latest enactment taken successful the denomination’s ongoing nationalist reckoning with the scandal, came astatine the extremity of the Executive Committee’s two-day concern gathering successful Nashville. The investigation, including the question of whether the Executive Committee would waive its attorney-client privilege, dominated discussion. The regularisation protects the confidentiality of communications connected ineligible proposal and immoderate Executive Committee members raised concerns waiving it could interaction litigation and security policies.

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Delegates, besides known arsenic messengers, voted overwhelmingly astatine their nationalist gathering successful June to make a task unit charged with overseeing the third-party investigation.

They besides directed the task unit to hold to the investigator’s recommended standards and champion practices, “including but not constricted to the Executive Committee unit and members waiving attorney-client privilege successful bid to guarantee afloat entree to accusation and accuracy successful the review.” In August, the task unit formerly asked the Executive Committee to waive it, saying it is the volition of the messengers and captious to the investigation.

On Monday and Tuesday, Executive Committee members heard from cardinal stakeholders astir the investigation, asked questions astir the risks of waiving privilege and disagreed implicit however overmuch of this week’s discussions should hap down closed doors.

Julie Myers Wood, the CEO of Guidepost Solutions, told the Executive Committee waiving privilege is the “only mode to guarantee that the probe is viewed arsenic afloat credible, transparent and thorough and to amusement that the EC has and the Southern Baptist Convention has thing to hide.”

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On Tuesday, the members took hours to hash retired what they yet approved, which besides included asking the task unit and Executive Committee officers to travel up with a declaration successful 7 days that did not waive attorney-client privilege.

After the vote, Executive Committee subordinate Joe Knott from North Carolina said they person a ineligible work to beryllium bully stewards of the institution.

“Anyone who does harm to anyone other should beryllium exposed and afloat courts of instrumentality brought down upon them. No 1 wants to screen up immoderate crime,” Knott said. “However, determination are besides laws that govern fiduciary work and we don't privation to interruption those laws either."

SBC President Ed Litton said successful a connection that Tuesday’s determination by the Executive Committee fell abbreviated of the mandate the delegates gave successful June.

“I’m disappointed that respective known issues are lone present being addressed with due seriousness, but I’m grateful the probe volition begin," Litton said.

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The probe into the Executive Committee is expected to instrumentality respective months. A written study of the findings is owed to the task unit earlier Southern Baptists conscionable successful June for their yearly denominational meeting.

The study is expected to beryllium made nationalist on with recommendations from the task unit astir the adjacent steps the normal should take.

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