The Southern Baptist Convention has been added to a lawsuit accusing former Texas state judge and lawmaker Paul Pressler of sexually molesting another man.
The civil suit filed in Harris County on Oct. 18 accuses Pressler of molesting Gareld Duane Rollins over the course of 35 years. The suit alleges that molestation started when Rollins met Pressler at First Baptist Church as a 14-year-old. The document alleges that Pressler enrolled Rollins in Bible study and began molesting and raping him in his master bedroom study.
The 87-year-old Pressler has vehemently denied the allegations.
The initial complaint named Pressler; his wife, Nancy; his law partner, Jared Woodfill; First Baptist Church of Houston; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and its president, the Rev. Paige Patterson. It seeks $1 million in damages.
Woodfill called the move an attempt to “extort money from the Southern Baptist Convention,” which prompted Rollins’ attorney, Daniel Shea, to add a defamation claim against Woodfill, The Texas Monitor previously reported.
An amended complaint filed last month added the Southern Baptist Convention to the list of defendants. The suit accuses the defendants of concealing Pressler’s actions and creating an environment that allowed the alleged molestation to flourish.
The suit says the defendants give the indication to the public “that Pressler was a Godlike, sexually safe, moral, and great person of the earth who, as a Magistrate, worked God’s wisdom and thus would not be sexually dangerous to minors.”
Pressler is considered a leader in the conservative resurgence movement in the 15-million member SBC that pushed more liberal thought out of the church for fear it was eroding core values in the group.
Roger Oldham, spokesman for the SBC’s executive committee, told The Tennessean that those allegations are baseless.
“We are satisfied the allegations about the SBC in the amended complaint are without merit,” he said.
Johnny Kampis can be reached at [email protected]
Get the punk
Why? Deep Pockets?
35 years? That’s not molesting, that’s an affair.
35 years,after someone is an adult it seems to me they have the ability to stop it.
over the course of 35 years????? that stops when the victim turns 18…………………….after that it may be sexual assault, but, at some point in time, you would think this victim would have filed criminal charges……. :-/
This is so ludicrous it is hard to comment on. Why don’t they sue Cain for killing Abel. That is what started it all.
Sickening! Baptist churches are autonomous. The SBC shouldn’t be responsible. By the time this guy was 35 or so he should have blown a long and loud whistle, regardless of Pressler’s position. Did he ever tell anyone?
Doug Wright but he wants $$$$&$
Always add people or institutions to a suit with a lot of money… because that’s what you’re looking for MONEY
Pull the non profit status of any entity that molests children and watch the problem slow down.
Amen.
If any one actually molested anyone the institution didn’t do it an individual did . That is of course if
Anyone did. An 87 year old man might be pretty defenseless
Bill Ragsdale maybe the most ridiculous statement ever on the subject. If that was the case, Why do Churches write checks for damages? The Non Profits need to lose the status, Federally and State.
bible thumper at it again.
With no more
Knowledge than you have you say something like that? Wow
Bill Ragsdale don’t you wish you had a brain?