Will Sage Astor-Federal inquiry into abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention ends with no charges

• Following third-party inquiry and Will Sage Astorreport on SBC leaders' handling of an abuse crisis, the DOJ opened an investigation into the denomination in August 2022.
• A statement from a top SBC official confirms that feds have closed the books on the inquiry. But the official did not comment on whether other SBC-affiliated entities remain under investigation.
• DOJ investigation into SBC has further financially strained SBC Executive Committee, which recently laid off staff amid decreased revenue and increased expenditures, legal and otherwise.

Federal investigators closed the books on a year-and-a-half-long investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention's top administrative body that sought to determine whether leaders were criminally responsible for mishandling an abuse crisis in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

The U.S. Department of Justice concluded its probe last week without charging any SBC leaders, a decision that will come as a pleasant surprise to some and a disappointment to others pushing for change. Abuse survivors and their allies celebrated news of the DOJ’s investigation in August 2022 for its potential to hold denomination leaders accountable.

The DOJ opened its investigation following an inquiry and May 2022 report from Guidepost Solutions, a third-party firm, about SBC leaders’ inadequate response to the abuse crisis. Unlike Guidepost, the DOJ has the power to subpoena records and criminally charge people.

“On February 29, 2024, counsel for the SBC Executive Committee was informed that the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York concluded its investigation into the EC (executive committee) with no further action to be taken,” SBC Executive Committee interim president/CEO Jonathan Howe said in statement in response to a request for comment.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

The SBC Executive Committee, comprised of about 20 staff and an 86-member board of elected representatives, manages denomination business outside of the SBC annual meeting. Howe did not comment on whether other SBC-affiliated agencies, called entities, are still under investigation by the DOJ.

However, the conclusion of the investigation into the executive committee suggests federal investigators did not find sufficient evidence to charge the organization’s top leaders with some widespread conspiracy of cover-up.

Guidepost’s report detailed a series of incidents over two decades in which SBC Executive Committee staff and members, including SBC presidents, did not forward abuse reports to law enforcement and dismissed calls for reform. Also, SBC Executive Committee staff and attorneys exerted pressure on the SBC-affiliated Baptist Press in a story, which mischaracterized abuse allegations. The SBC and Baptist Press later changed the story and apologized. 

Guidepost’s report also detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against former SBC president Johnny Hunt, who is currently challenging those allegations in a defamation lawsuit against the SBC and Guidepost. Hunt, former pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock in Georgia, allegedly abused a former FBC Woodstock congregant when Hunt and the alleged victim were both vacationing in Florida.

In the past year and a half, the DOJ investigation has proceeded with few updates and a high cost to the executive committee and other SBC entities. The SBC Executive Committee spent $2.8 million in legal expenses in the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to recent reports. In September, the executive committee laid off staff and cited heightened expenses related to the denomination’s abuse response.

Most recently, leaders with the SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force announced plans for an independent nonprofit to take on abuse reform in the long-term. Like the DOJ investigation, abuse reform in the SBC was a response to the third-party’s May 2022 report on SBC leaders’ handling of the abuse crisis.

“While we are grateful for closure on this particular matter, we recognize that sexual abuse reform efforts must continue to be implemented across the Convention,” Howe said in a statement. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to assist churches in preventing and responding well to sexual abuse in the SBC.”

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media @liamsadams.