October 22, 2024
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention Sex Abuse Task Force issued an update on its work with Guidepost Solutions in the investigation of the Executive Committee’s alleged mishandling of sex abuse claims.
The task force said it would be its last update before Guidepost’s full report is made public in mid-May.
Guidepost is under a deadline to report its findings to the task force no later than 30 days prior to the SBC annual meeting in Anaheim, which begins on June 14, 2022. Thus, the report is due to the task force by next weekend.
Guidepost and the task force say they will release the factual portion of the report to the SBC Committee on Cooperation on Tuesday.
“Guidepost will not provide its observations or conclusions to the Committeee on Cooperation, but strictly the factual portion so that any inadvertent errors (e.g., titles, dates) can be corrected,” the task force reported.
In the latest update, the group reported 313 interviews had been completed by Guidepost with some individuals being interviewed multiple times.
There were 31 witnesses contacted who, according to Guidepost, declined to participate, and investigators found that 24 potential witnesses were deceased.
The list of potential witnesses was composed of the more than 80 members of the SBC EC who serve annually over a period of 21 years, current and former EC staff members, and SBC officers and entity heads between Jan. 1, 2000, and June 14, 2021.
