Most of the names had already been published elsewhere, including a major investigation into allegations of abuse by The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. Some of the names had appeared in publicly available court documents as part of criminal or civil lawsuits.
The publication comes weeks before the annual convention meeting in Anaheim, California, where leaders and members are expected to discuss other steps to address allegations of abuse. The convention will also elect new leaders as it faces divisions over politics, culture and declining members.
The third-party report contained several reports of victims of sexual abuse and others who said they contacted the convention’s executive committee about alleged criminals and were ignored. At one point, Mr. Boto, the former vice president, referred to the activists’ work in an internal email as a “satanic scheme.”
In 2007, a delegate to the denomination’s annual convention filed a motion to create a database of clerics and staff “involved in sexual harassment or abuse.” The following year, a working group of the executive committee rejected the idea, saying that maintaining this list publicly would violate the decentralized structure of the denomination.
But the report released on Sunday revealed that in 2007 the committee’s own general counsel, James Guenther, proposed a plan for the denomination’s website to link to that database. “I would fit in with our current government and ministries to help churches in this area of child abuse and sexual misconduct,” he wrote, recommending “immediate action.” Mr. Boto did not take any action, according to the report.
Unable to contact Mr. I click to comment.
The publication of the list also comes just two days after Gene Besen, the interim director of the executive committee, told committee members at a meeting that the committee would publish the list “as soon as we can.”
The original ad hoc list contained about 700 names, with about 400 believed to be related to the denomination. While the list released on Thursday does not represent a full count of Southern Baptist criminals, “quickly releasing this list is in our best interest, it is important, it is an immediate concern for the public and the survivor community, and we have to do it right away, ”he told the commission.