The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has ended its investigation into alleged abuse within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and has decided not to file any charges against the church.
“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,” vice president of communications for the SBC, Jonathan Howe stated.
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The Tennessean reported Wednesday, that the DOJ concluded its investigation into the SBC leadership last week, with federal officials opting not to charge any of the convention leaders.
The end of the investigation suggests that federal authorities did not find evidence to charge SBC leaders with an abuse cover-up, The Tennessean added.
The SBC confirmed in August 2022, that the DOJ was investigating the denomination and its entities following the release of a report by Guidepost Solutions that was commissioned by the SBC’s Executive Committee that detailed how some leaders allegedly mistreated victims of abuse and had mishandled allegations of abuse.
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“For almost two decades, survivors of abuse and other concerned Southern Baptists have been contacting the [SBC Executive Committee] to report child molesters and other abusers who were in the pulpit or employed as church staff,” read the Guidepost report’s executive summary, in part.
“They made phone calls, mailed letters, sent emails, appeared at SBC and EC meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press…only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC,” The Christian Post reports.
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