Skip to content
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)—the largest Protestant denomination in the United States and the nation’s second-largest faith group—has been rocked by an alarming wave of sexual abuse allegations. Hundreds of survivors have come forward, revealing decades of abuse at the hands of pastors, youth leaders, and church staff. These claims have triggered nationwide investigations, lawsuits, settlements and calls for systemic reform within the SBC.
If you or someone you love was sexually abused by a pastor, church leader, or volunteer at a Southern Baptist Convention church, you are not alone—and you may have legal options. SurvivorsRights.com is here to help you understand your rights, connect with experienced, empathetic attorneys who specialize in sexual abuse cases, and take the first step toward justice. Your voice matters, and it’s never too late to be heard.
A six-part investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News uncovered over 700 victims of sexual abuse tied to SBC churches over 20 years. The investigation revealed that more than 380 pastors, deacons, and volunteers had faced allegations of misconduct—many of whom were allowed to quietly move from church to church.
Because the SBC is a loosely affiliated network of autonomous churches, there’s no central authority that screens clergy or tracks allegations. This decentralized structure created an environment where abusers could operate unchecked.
The SBC has faced mounting legal pressure since 2019, when the investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News was published. Titled “Abuse of Faith”, the series detailed how hundreds of pastors, deacons, and volunteers were criminally charged with sex crimes since 2000, and how denominational leaders repeatedly ignored or concealed abuse allegations.
The investigation prompted survivors to come forward in large numbers, and lawsuits began to follow. One of the most prominent cases involved former SBC leader Paul Pressler, who was accused of decades-long sexual abuse. The lawsuit against him, originally filed in 2017, named the SBC and other affiliated parties for enabling the abuse. That case was settled confidentially in 2023.
Additional civil suits have since been filed against local SBC churches and leadership by survivors who were abused as minors and allege negligence in oversight, hiring practices, and reporting. Some of these lawsuits have highlighted the fact that known offenders were allowed to move from church to church, often continuing to work in youth ministries or other vulnerable settings.
While no certified class action lawsuits have been confirmed as of 2025, the cumulative impact of these individual cases—and the coordinated call for accountability—has brought national attention to the SBC’s handling of sexual abuse.
A major turning point came in 2022, when the SBC Executive Committee released a report from independent firm Guidepost Solutions. That report confirmed what survivors had said for years: top SBC leaders maintained a secret list of abusers dating back to 2007. As mentioned, more than 700 names were compiled, and some individuals were still working in churches at the time the list became public.
As National Public Radio’s Terry Gross asked Houston Chronicle reporter Robert Downen, who headed the investigation, why would the SBC’s own general counsel compile a list of abusers within its own ranks?
The answer, Downen said, was, in part, due to concerns over legal exposure. While the list may have had practical value in preventing abuse, it was also shaped by fears about “what it would or would not do to the SBC’s liability in lawsuits,” Downen explained to Gross during a segment of “Fresh Air.” For decades, minimizing legal risk was a central focus of a small group of leaders, whose legal advice, Downen said, was often “treated as gospel truth and went unchallenged,” even as survivors repeatedly called for accountability measures.
Even more damaging, the report found that SBC lawyers and executive committee members prioritized avoiding legal liability over protecting children. As Gross pointed out during her interview with Downen, “Survivors were told to just forgive or that they were doing the devil’s work. They were disparaged.”
Moreover, leaders rejected proposed reforms, citing “local church autonomy”—the idea that each church operates independently—but the investigation uncovered internal communications admitting those reforms were in fact feasible and could help remove predators.
The lawsuits and investigations continue to evolve, and survivors, including longtime advocates like Christa Brown—known as the “public face” of Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors, and author of This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang.
Another prominent advocate for SBC reform is Debbie Vasquez, who was impregnated by a SBC minister who molested her beginning when she was 14 years old. Brown, Vasquez, and other advocates are at the forefront of efforts to hold the SBC accountable for decades of not just institutional failure, but willful negligence, moral betrayal, and systemic concealment of abuse.
Despite reports of abuse, many predators were never reported to police. Instead, church leaders quietly dismissed them or allowed them to resign—only for those individuals to be hired at other SBC-affiliated churches.
The Southern Baptist Convention is a loose network of roughly 47,000 independent churches that pool resources for missions and seminaries but lack centralized oversight. There are no universal ordination standards, no official recordkeeping, and no way to track where ministers have served. As the Houston Chronicle’s Downen explained on NPR, one longtime Christian scholar described the SBC’s structure as “kind of the wild, wild west system.” This lack of accountability is exactly why survivors have long demanded reforms—reforms that SBC leaders publicly resisted but privately admitted could help remove predators from ministry.
As the aforementioned SBC sexual abuse survivor Brown described it:
“Being a preacher in the [SBC] church was a perfect profession for a con artist. All he has to do is talk a good talk and convince people he’d been called by God and he gets to become a Southern Baptist minister.”
Brown further explained, “Then [the minister] can infiltrate the entirety of [the] Southern Baptist Convention, [move] from church to church, from state to state, go to bigger churches and more prominent churches where he has more influence and power.”
Ultimately, the SBC’s decentralized structure, lack of a national database of accused abusers, and resistance to oversight played a central role in enabling this cycle. Some churches knowingly rehired known abusers, under the guise of offering ‘second chances’ or due to lax background checks.
Until the 2019 investigation was published, SBC churches were ousted from the organization if they had a female pastor or a pastor that was affirming of homosexuality. Incomprehensibly, having a convicted sex offender on staff was not one of the reasons the Southern Baptist Convention would oust a church from its ranks, according to the Houston Chronicle report.
Survivors who file civil lawsuits against the SBC or its affiliated churches may be eligible for:
Each case is different. A legal consultation can help survivors understand their rights based on the details of their abuse, the state where it occurred, and whether any statute of limitations applies.
If you or someone you love was sexually abused by someone in an SBC church, you may have legal options. Here’s how the process generally works:
Contact an Attorney Specializing in Clergy Abuse
Look for an attorney or legal team with experience in institutional abuse cases.
Gather Documentation
This may include church records, witness statements, or any evidence of the abuse.
File a Civil Claim
Your attorney will file a complaint in the appropriate court.
Litigation or Settlement
The case may proceed to trial or reach a settlement. Many survivors opt for settlements to avoid retraumatization.
At SurvivorsRights.com, we connect survivors with highly-experienced sexual abuse attorneys who work on contingency (you don’t pay until your case is settled or results in a plaintiff verdict), and understand the complexity of cases involving large religious institutions.
While the full scope of abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention spans hundreds of churches and victims, certain cases stand out for their visibility, impact, and the disturbing patterns they reveal. These high-profile incidents don’t just represent isolated acts of misconduct—they illustrate how easily abusers were able to gain and retain positions of trust, often with little to no accountability. The following examples underscore the human cost of the SBC’s systemic failures and the urgent need for reform.
These are just a few among hundreds of documented cases.
Yes. Lawsuits are continuing to be filed, especially in states that have opened “lookback windows” or extended their statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse.
Survivors now have more legal avenues than ever before. Some states, such as California and New York, allow previously time-barred cases to be refiled. (While the SBC is deeply rooted in the South, it maintains a nationwide footprint, including urban, suburban, and rural communities in California, New York, and other less traditionally evangelical regions. In California, the SBC has a significant presence, with over 2,300 affiliated churches. Many are part of the California Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest state conventions outside the South.)
Legal experts expect more SBC-related lawsuits to emerge as additional survivors come forward.
No. While evidence can strengthen your case, many survivors rely on testimony, witness accounts, and corroborating documents.
Yes. Many survivors file lawsuits using pseudonyms like “Jane Doe” or “John Doe” to protect their identity.
It depends on your state. Some states have eliminated or extended deadlines for child sexual abuse cases. Contact an attorney to learn your options.
Not necessarily. Many cases are resolved through confidential settlements, and your attorney can advocate for your safety throughout the process.
You are not alone—and you have options.
SurvivorsRights.com may connect you with attorneys who work on a contingency fee basis, which means:
This structure ensures that survivors don’t face financial barriers to pursuing justice.
Yes. Survivors can file lawsuits against Catholic dioceses, religious orders, parishes, or Church-run institutions. You don’t have to sue the Vatican or go through Rome—most dioceses operate independently and can be held accountable under U.S. law.
You can still have a case. Trauma often affects memory, especially for abuse that happened in childhood. Many survivors don’t recall exact dates or details, and that’s okay. Experienced legal teams know how to work with partial memories and can often find supporting evidence through Church records, personnel files, or other survivor accounts.
Start by listening and believing them. Let them know the abuse wasn’t their fault. Don’t pressure them to take legal action, but gently encourage them to get support—from a therapist, advocate, or resource center. You can also help them research their options if and when they’re ready.
Some trusted resources include:
SurvivorsRights.com also offers resources and may connect you with attorneys experienced in clergy abuse litigation.
Maybe not. Many states have passed “lookback window” laws that give survivors a chance to file claims even if the original statute of limitations has expired. These windows are time-sensitive, so it’s a good idea to find out whether your window is still open—even if you’re unsure whether you want to proceed.
If you or someone you love was abused by a Southern Baptist Convention pastor, youth leader, or church volunteer, SurvivorsRights.com is here to help. We connect survivors with highly experienced, compassionate attorneys who specialize in SBC sexual abuse cases and fight for justice on a contingency basis—meaning you pay nothing unless they win your case.
Your voice matters. Your story deserves to be heard.
Take the first step toward healing and accountability today.
Learn more and explore your legal options now.