Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has released more details on the handling of a case involving sexual assault that has landed a former seminary staffer — Matt Queen — in federal court, charged with obstruction of justice.
In a statement May 29, David Dockery, president of Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, said Terri Stovall, the school’s dean of women, learned in November 2022 about an alleged sexual assault by a student at the seminary’s undergraduate-level Texas Baptist College.
She reported the assault to campus police — who took no action on the report, according to Dockery — and kept a record of her response.
A few months later, the student accused of the assault was arrested by an outside police department.
Make the report ‘go away’
Heath Woolman, then Dockery’s chief of staff, learned about Stovall’s document from November and allegedly told her to make it “go away,” according to Dockery’s statement.
At the time, all staff had been informed that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse and any documents about sexual abuse had been subpoenaed, Dockery said. The alleged assault was not reported to federal officials.
Dockery said Woolman denied telling Stovall to destroy the document, a claim initially backed up by Matt Queen, another seminary staffer.
“In a follow-up conversation concerning what was said to Stovall, Woolman provided me assurance that he did not instruct her to make the document ‘go away,’” Dockery said.
When Queen changed his story in the summer of 2023, he was placed on administrative leave. He has been charged with allegedly lying to the FBI and creating false notes to back his initial claim that he knew nothing about an order to destroy the document.
Woolman left the seminary in the spring of 2023 and is now pastor of Fruit Cove Baptist Church in St. Johns, Florida.
Queen, who was recently suspended by his church — Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina — has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. Woolman did not respond to a request for comment at Fruit Cove Baptist.
Dockery commends Stovall
Dockery praised Stovall for her actions and said the school is continuing to cooperate with federal officials. He also said the school’s chief of police from 2022 is no longer at the school.
“This episode is a matter of deep regret to me. I am, however, grateful that several employees in whom I placed great trust acted responsibly, especially Terri Stovall,” Dockery said. “I commend the service and integrity of these employees.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Bob Smietana and originally published by Religion News Service.
