Southern Baptist leaders ‘stonewalled’ sex abuse victims, scathing report says

Survivors who reported abuse to executive committee were ignored' as leaders were singularly focused on avoiding liability'

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, America's largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued Sunday.

These survivors, and other concerned southern baptists, repeatedly shared allegations with the SBC's executive committee, only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some" leaders, said the report.