A recently revealed email, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Jan. 19, spotlights an April 2021 message from former Southern Baptist Convention attorney James Guenther to then-SBC Executive Committee executive vice president Greg Addison. The email, part of filings in a settled lawsuit against Paul Pressler and others, appears to reveal reluctance to engage in discovery regarding Pressler’s alleged sexual abuse.
In the wake of the email’s release, many claim the message shared by journalist Rob Downen, confirms SBC leadership’s complicity in covering up sexual abuse. Rachael Denhollander, a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, alleges SBC leaders knew but let the plaintiff, Gareld Duane Rollins, be publically misrepresented as a liar.
Marshall Blalock, previous chair of the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, responded by accusing SBC lawyers of withholding information, a claim contested by current SBC attorney Gene Besen, who called the accusation “patently inaccurate.”
“Nothing was withheld from Guidepost,” said Besen, referencing the independent investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions into the SBC EC’s handling of abuse allegations. The case against Pressler, a key figure in the SBC’s Conservative Resurgence, was settled on Dec. 27, 2023.
