By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist pastor in Oklahoma second-guessed himself after the arrest of his former youth pastor on eight counts of sexual abuse of a minor. Jeff Self, pastor of First Baptist Church in Coalgate, Okla., told CBS…
Ministry: Abuse suit harms confidentiality
By Bob Allen A network of Reformed church plants accused in a class-action lawsuit of covering up sexual abuse of children appealed to a First Amendment defense in a statement Nov. 14. Sovereign Grace Ministries, which recently relocated from Maryland…
Boy Scout cover-up sign of the times
By Bob Allen A retired Baptist state convention executive says formerly confidential files detailing decades of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America reflect the ethos of a time before mandatory reporting, when a common approach was to deal…
Former minister fights molestation charge
By Bob Allen A former Southern Baptist music minister is asking a Mississippi judge to dismiss an eight-count indictment charging him with sex crimes in the 1980s, claiming the allegations are too old to be prosecuted. Lawyers for John Langworthy,…
Radio host: evangelicals ignoring abuse
By Bob Allen A Christian radio host says it’s time for evangelical churches to wake up to an “epidemic” of sexual abuse of children going on in their midst. “I don’t know how long evangelicalism can ignore this problem,” host…
Church scrutinized after pastor’s arrest
By Bob Allen Missouri Baptist Convention officials are watching a member church whose pastor was arrested recently on sexual abuse charges a year after his previous acquittal of child molestation. Travis Smith, 42, of California, Mo., appeared for arraignment Oct….
Controversy follows Calvinist group
By Bob Allen A controversial church-planting network with ties to a Southern Baptist Convention seminary has been sued in Maryland for allegedly covering up allegations of sexual abuse of children in the 1980s and 1990s. According to the Associated Press,…
Pastor spared abuse trial
By Bob Allen A Baptist preacher arrested in May will not stand trial for sexual assault of a child after a Texas grand jury found insufficient evidence to prosecute. The Ennis Daily News reported Sept. 26 that an Ellis County…
Victims shine light on video voyeurism
By Bob Allen Three witnesses at a recent sentencing hearing for a former traveling evangelist sent to prison for secretly videotaping women in a bathroom in his home went on national television Sept. 18 to raise awareness to the growing…