First Baptist Church in Benton has been named, along with other Baptist organizations, in a civil lawsuit involving a 2009 sexual indecency case that resulted in the arrest of the Benton church’s music minister. In 2009, David Kent Pierce, who was 56 at the time of his conviction, was formerly a music minister at Benton’s First Baptist Church for 29 years until he was fired following the investigation. Pierce pleaded guilty in 2009 to 54 counts of sexual indecency with children, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. He was convicted in August 2009 by the Saline County Circuit Court and...

- Last week, Minick read articles covering how SBC and others reached a confidential settlement in a six-year suit accusing Pressler of sex abuse and alleging that others including First Baptist Church of Houston were responsible for covering up crimes.  - "It just left me wondering who all knew and what else are they hiding," Minick said Monday, expressing frustration that the case would never reach its February trial date. It was his belief that SBC had "calculated the cost of the cost of settlement versus trial and did what they had to do to protect themselves and there was no...

- The suit prompted a major newspaper investigation into Southern Baptist sexual abuse and seven other men to come forward with allegations against Paul Pressler, an influential conservative activist and former Texas judge. - Rollins said weaponized religious language to justify his predations — were so traumatizing that he unconsciously developed a sort of Stockholm syndrome that, coupled with the drug and alcohol addictions he blamed on the trauma, made it impossible to recognize himself as a victim until decades had passed. Thus, Rollins argued, his statute of limitations should have begun when he realized he had been...

In keeping with nationwide trends, the Kentucky legislature extended the time period in which child sex abuse survivors can bring civil lawsuits and allowed that their lawsuits can be asserted not only against perpetrators, but also against institutions that fail to protect children. Under these new laws, Samantha Killary pursued her lawsuit for childhood sexual abuse against a Louisville police officer and also against Louisville Metro for “employing and empowering” him. The case is now pending before the Kentucky Supreme Court, with arguments about the validity of the new laws. Into this case, the Southern Baptist Convention...

A brief filed earlier this year by lawyers for the Executive Committee, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Lifeway, an SBC publisher, argues that a Kentucky law that changed the statute of limitations for making civil claims over abuse—and allowing survivors to sue third parties such as churches or police—should not be applied retroactively.

Robert C. Stine, 60, of Middleton, who was pastor at Midvale Baptist Church, 821 S. Midvale Blvd., was charged  with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child for alleged incidents about four years ago in which a girl who was then about 10 said he touched her improperly during a day camp that was held at the church. State regulators revoked the license of the daycare, called Kid’s Best Child Care, on June 30, 2023 after the girl’s mother reported the alleged abuse to police on April 21, 2023 according to a criminal complaint. A page...