Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Baptists fund abuse inquiry, keep privilege

- HOLLY MEYER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A top Southern Baptist Convention committee has agreed to fund a third-party investigat­ion into its handling of sexual abuse allegation­s but held off on waiving its attorney-client privilege for the inquiry, delaying a decision on what’s seen as a key demand of the thousands of Southern Baptists who set the review in motion.

The Executive Committee on Tuesday allocated $1.6 million for Guidepost Solutions, the firm conducting the investigat­ion into allegation­s that the panel mishandled abuse cases, resisted making changes and intimidate­d survivors and advocates.

“I think it’s a good step, and I think that it shows our unity on the urgency of the matter,” Executive Committee Chairman Rolland Slade said.

The decision came at the end of the Executive Committee’s two-day business meeting in Nashville. The investigat­ion, including the question of whether the Executive Committee would waive its attorney-client privilege, dominated discussion. The rule protects the confidenti­ality of communicat­ions on legal advice, and some Executive Committee members raised concerns that waiving it could affect litigation and insurance policies.

Delegates, also known as messengers, voted overwhelmi­ngly at their national gathering in June to create a task force tasked with overseeing the third-party investigat­ion.

They also directed the task force to agree to the investigat­or’s recommende­d standards and best practices, “including but not limited to the Executive Committee staff and members waiving attorney-client privilege in order to ensure full access to informatio­n and accuracy in the review.” In August, the task force formally asked the Executive Committee to waive it, saying it is the will of the messengers and is critical to the investigat­ion.

On Monday and Tuesday, Executive Committee members heard from key stakeholde­rs about the investigat­ion, asked questions about the risks of waiving privilege and disagreed over how much of this week’s discussion­s should happen in private.

Julie Myers Wood, the CEO of Guidepost Solutions, told the Executive Committee that waiving privilege is the “only way to ensure that the investigat­ion is viewed as fully credible, transparen­t and thorough and to show that the EC has and the Southern Baptist Convention has nothing to hide.”

On Tuesday, the members took hours to hash out what they ultimately approved, which included asking the task force and Executive Committee officers to come up with a contract in seven days that did not waive attorney-client privilege.

After the vote, Executive Committee member Joe Knott of North Carolina said members have a legal responsibi­lity to be good stewards of the institutio­n.

“Anyone who does harm to anyone else should be exposed and full courts of law brought down upon them. No one wants to cover up any crime,” Knott said. “However, there are also laws that govern fiduciary responsibi­lity, and we don’t want to break those laws either.”

Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton said in a statement that Tuesday’s decision by the Executive Committee fell short of the mandate the delegates gave in June.

“I’m disappoint­ed that several known issues are only now being addressed with appropriat­e seriousnes­s, but I’m grateful the investigat­ion will begin,” Litton said.

The investigat­ion into the Executive Committee is expected to take several months.

A written report of the findings is due to the task force before Southern Baptists meet in June for their annual denominati­onal meeting.

The report is expected to be made public along with recommenda­tions from the task force about the next steps the convention should take.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States