June 8, 2022
By Joseph Sauder

Sauder Schelkopf is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct within the Southern Baptist Convention churches. It has been alleged that national leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention mishandled reports of sexual abuse.

May 26, 2022: The New Yorker reported in part:

Last year, pastors belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention, which has nearly fourteen million members and is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, decided that the problem of sexual abuse within its ranks had to be addressed. Following investigative reporting in the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, which identified more than seven hundred victims during the past two decades, the S.B.C. contracted a third-party firm to investigate alleged misconduct. This month, the final report was released. It found widespread sexual abuse across the S.B.C., including an internal list of seven hundred and three alleged perpetrators, and a leadership more interested in shaming survivors and preventing legal liability than stopping the abuse. “The whole thing should be seen for what it is,” one high-ranking S.B.C. official, referring to victims’ allegations, wrote in an e-mail uncovered in the report. “[It is] a satanic scheme to completely distract us from evangelism.” 

Read May 15, 2022, Guidepost Report of the Independent Investigation here

Read the Report published by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

The Report concludes in part:

For far too long boys, girls, men and women have lined our SBC pews silently bearing the scars of sexual abuse. Most church leaders were unaware of the suffering of their most vulnerable, some knew and turned a blind eye, and a few leaders perpetrated the evil themselves.

Related News

Southern Baptists ready to put spotlight on sex-abuse crisis

Southern Baptist leaders release sex abuser database they kept secret for years

These allegations have not been proven in court.

Experience Matters

Sauder Schelkopf has a nationally recognized sexual misconduct practice. The firm’s attorneys have represented survivors of clergy sexual abuse in dioceses throughout the country. Our firm currently serves as court-appointed lead counsel in courts across the country. The attorneys at Sauder Schelkopf have recovered over $500 million on behalf of their clients and class members. Our attorneys have been recognized by LawDragon in its list of the “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2022.  This list notes: “From the opioid epidemic to toxic substances and defective products, truck accidents to wildfires and sexual abuse, these are the lawyers who stand on the front line in individual lawsuits and class actions seeking justice.” Mr. Schelkopf was named to Pennsylvania’s Best Lawyers® 2022 for Class Actions/Mass Tort Litigation. The American Lawyer named Mr. Sauder to its 2021 Northeast Trailblazers. The honor recognizes 60 lawyers who are “truly agents of change.” It “recognizes professionals in the Northeast who have moved the needle in the legal industry.” The Legal Intelligencer named Mr. Sauder and Mr. Schelkopf in its 2020 Pennsylvania Trailblazers list recognizing 31 lawyers who “have taken extra measures to contribute to positive outcomes . . . and who are truly agents of change.” The Legal highlighted Mr. Sauder’s innovative work on advocacy as class counsel in large institutional sex abuse cover-ups, women’s, and children’s rights. Our attorneys have also consistently been recognized by our peers being named to Pennsylvania SuperLawyer, a distinction held by the top 5% of attorneys in Pennsylvania.  Our attorneys have also been  selected by the National Trial Lawyers Association as the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania

Sexual Abuse

  • Sauder Schelkopf, and co-counsel, recently reached a $215 million settlement on behalf of female patients of Dr. George Tyndall, a gynecologist at the University of Southern California accused of sexual misconduct since the 1990s.
  • We have represented survivors of clergy sexual abuse in dioceses throughout the country.
  • We have a lawsuit pending on behalf of males who were victims of sexual misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss, the Ohio State team doctor, while they were students and student-athletes at Ohio State University.
  • We recently announced a landmark class action settlement in which the University of Michigan agreed to “major institutional reforms.” It was alleged that UofM’s longtime employment of a predatory former sports doctor evidenced a toxic environment where students face an increased risk of sexual violence in violation of Title IX. The settlement comes after widespread allegations by over 1000 survivors of sexual misconduct by Dr. Robert E. Anderson, former director of University Health Service, and a former athletic team physician, who worked at the University of Michigan from 1968 until his retirement in 2003.

We Want to Hear from You

If you are a survivor of sexual abuse, you can confidentially contact the lawyers at Sauder Schelkopf by filling out the form on this page or calling 888.711.9975