Southern Baptist leaders and others mentioned in the sexual abuse report released May 22 continue to come forward to refute allegations made by Guidepost Solutions, which led the independent investigation into claims the SBC Executive Committee mishandled reports of sexual abuse.
In addition to these responses, the Association of State Baptist Publications has requested access to the full archive of evidence for the report to review. Earlier this week, Johnny Hunt and attorneys Jim Guenther and Jaime Jordan released statements refuting allegations made against them in the report (See their responses here and here). And today (May 27), former EC Vice President for Communications Roger ‘Sing’ Oldham — who has been accused of being part of an effort to compile a secret list of sexual abuse offenders from media reports — issued an “Open Letter to Southern Baptist Leadership” refuting these claims.
“I specifically deny being a knowing participant in creating an alleged secret database of sexual offenders,” Oldham said in his statement. “I did not know that such a list existed. I had no knowledge that my email forwards were being folded into a larger list of alleged sexual predators. I do not know the reason such a list would have been developed. I do not know the process used to create such a list. I did not have access to such a list.”
‘Not asked’
Oldham noted he was never asked by Guidepost representatives during a three-plus hour interview about the email he sent to then-SBC Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd, where Oldham referenced forwarding links of sexual abuse stories to August Boto, former EC vice president and legal counsel.
“Given the very prominent role the email has played in the Guidepost narrative, and given that, prior to my interview, Baptist Press had reported that the final report was already being written, I find it odd that I was not asked about it in my interview,” Oldham said in his email to SBC leaders and media outlets, including TAB Media Group, with his attached open letter.
In his response regarding the information he forwarded Boto, Oldham said he told Guidepost representatives that he “developed the practice of forwarding to Mr. Boto reports of published news stories about individuals who had been arrested for some type of sexual crime who had a connection with a Baptist church. They indicated they knew this information.”
Oldham noted, “I sent these [news reports] to Mr. Boto for his awareness since he ran point on matters related to sexual abuse and would be the one to follow up if a follow up was warranted,” Oldham said. “I also sent them as a routine reminder that sexual predation was an ongoing problem.”
In his response, Oldham noted, “Each of the published stories I sent was an individual whose arrest by law enforcement was already in the public domain.”
To see Oldham’s full response, click here.
