Lawsuit Alleges Southern Baptist Entities Could Have Prevented Arkansas Sexual Abuse

Photo: A First Baptist Church in Marvell, AR; via Wikipedia.

Baptist News’ Jeff Brumley reported yesterday that a new lawsuit filed in Arkansas claims multiple Southern Baptist leaders and organizations failed to prevent sexual abuse committed by former youth minister Keenan Hord at First Baptist Church in Bentonville.

The lawsuit was brought by the parent of a male survivor and names First Baptist Church, the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, the Northwest Arkansas Baptist Association, the Southern Baptist Convention, and more than 20 unidentified church leaders and insurers listed as “John Doe” defendants. Hord, 35, is also named.

Hord pleaded guilty in 2023 to more than a dozen sexual assault charges and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Prosecutors said he sexually abused at least five minors between 2020 and 2022 while serving as youth minister at First Baptist.

According to the complaint, Hord was wrongfully placed “in a position of authority as a youth pastor,” which allegedly provided him with “unfettered access” to children participating in church programs. The lawsuit asserts that church leaders and affiliated Baptist entities should have recognized warning signs and intervened before the abuse occurred.

Before his time in Arkansas, Hord served as a youth pastor at a satellite campus of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, from 2011 to 2016. That period overlaps with the tenure of former Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines, who was senior pastor at Bellevue at the time.

Gaines was not named as a defendant but is referenced in the lawsuit as someone who allegedly should have identified “disqualifying risk factors.” Gaines and Bellevue Baptist Church were also mentioned in the Guidepost Solutions report, a third-party investigation that concluded some Southern Baptist leaders knowingly allowed individuals accused of misconduct to remain in ministry roles.

The Guidepost report stated that Gaines “admitted that, as senior pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church, he had delayed reporting a staff minister’s prior sexual abuse of a child (out) of ‘heartfelt concern and compassion for the minister,’ while acknowledging that he should have ‘brought it to the attention of our church leadership immediately.’” The report did not specify whether that reference involved Hord or another staff member.

The Arkansas lawsuit does not accuse Hord of sexual abuse during his ministry in Tennessee or Texas. However, it alleges that his conduct and interactions with minors should have raised concerns, claiming Gaines failed to “supervise, restrict, report or remove” him from ministry.

Following Hord’s 2022 arrest, Bellevue Baptist Church urged members to report any information about criminal activity to law enforcement and offered counseling support for affected families. First Baptist Church in Bentonville also stated that it contacted authorities and the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline upon learning of the allegations.

The lawsuit details that Hord initially met the survivor at a local skating rink and later encouraged the boy and his family to attend First Baptist. The complaint alleges Hord groomed and sexually abused the minor between January 2021 and July 2022.

First Baptist Church previously said it was “devastated” by the allegations and emphasized its cooperation with investigators. Two additional survivors filed a similar lawsuit in 2024, which was settled out of court.