Was Kenneth Johnson Listed in Southern Baptist List of Abusers?
Kenneth Johnson a pastor at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Pierce, Florida. In 2002, he was convicted of performing a sex act with a minor in 2000. Despite the fact that Johnson was convicted in December 2002, the church voted to keep him on December 15, 2003.
Southern Baptist Convention Guidepost Report
According to the Washington Post, a 300-page report was launched on Sunday, May 22, 2022. The file contains horrible new specifics regarding particular abuse instances and sheds light on how denominational authorities actively hindered abuse prevention and change for decades.
Southern Baptist Convention leaders have announced a comprehensive and independent 3rd party examination that uncovered that abusers were typically disregarded, forgotten, and even blamed by high-level church authorities from within this religious denomination of larger than 16 million individuals. Moreover, it revealed these leaders often lied to their own members to avoid them from understanding the unchecked sexual assaults.
Click to read more on the Southern Baptist Convention Guidepost Report
A Record of Overlooked Mishandling
Practically all of these reported occurrences occurred outside of the statute of limitations, making it uncertain how many predators were in fact charged. According to the report, an internal list was kept.
The report alleges that a key Southern Baptist Convention leader was credibly implicated of sexual assault just one month after finishing his two-year stretch as the convention’s president. Furthermore, Johnny Hunt, a popular Georgia Southern Baptist preacher and senior vice president of the SBC’s missions arm, was credibly accused of assaulting a female during a 2010 trip in Panama City Beach, FL. The North American Mission Board president declared he was uninformed of the allegations prior to Hunt resigning on May 13. The report also names 3 previous presidents of the convention, a former vice president, and the former head of the SBC’s administrative arm as prominent SBC leaders who assisted in covering and even encouraged alleged abusers.
One victim detailed being treated with animosity as she alleged she was sexually abused by a youth pastor. The accused pastor served in multiple Southern Baptist churches in several states. During a meeting with the SBC leaders in 2007, a member of the Exec Council “turned his back to her during her speech and another chortled.”
Responsibility in the SBC
Russell Moore, the former head of the SBC’s policy branch, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, stated ‘this is not all Southern Baptists, look at all the good we do.’ The bombshell report shows a trend of stonewalling, coverup, intimidation, and retaliation.” He desires this report will deliver much-needed change and hold those liable for their sexual abuse.
For more information about resources available to sexual abuse survivors in Florida, visit this link: https://abuseguardian.com/sexual-assault-lawyer/florida/sex-trauma-therapist-fl/
