Baptist Church Child Sexual Abuse

Dallas Attorney for Baptist Child Sexual Abuse Victims

Many child victims of sexual abuse in the Church are silenced — either by the bullying and shunning tactics of the church or by their own shame. Sadly, this situation allows the perpetrator to continue his pattern of abusing and molesting children. If you were a victim of child sexual abuse in the Baptist Church or any other denomination, we encourage you to come forward. You have options under both our criminal and civil law systems.

Many Baptists are surprised to learn that the sexual abuse of children is not just a problem associated with the Catholic Church. According to an Associated Press article, three insurers of protestant churches received more than 260 reports of children being sexually abused by ministers and other church officials in a single year. This compares to 228 credible accusations against Catholic clergy in a year, according to conservative records produced by the Catholic Church.

One of the remarkable things about child sex abuse in the Baptist Church is how many people knew about it in specific cases. Accusations of clergy abuse are documented at the convention level. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has a confidential file of known child sexual abuse offenders within its membership. Until recently, this file included the names of convicted child molesters who remained on the registry of ministers until church officials were confronted by reporters from the television show 20/20.

Baptist churches also have more information about the history of their own ministers. In a Baptist church, there is a committee of deacons or church elders who hire pastors. These deacons are responsible for doing background checks. If church deacons are negligent in investigating the background of a minister, the church can be liable.

Attorney Tahira Khan Merritt and her legal team are relentless in pursuing cases of child sexual abuse against the Baptist Church, even when the abuse occurred years ago and the minister has moved to another state.

Free attorney consultation: Contact Dallas lawyer Tahira Khan Merritt today for a free consultation about your Baptist sexual abuse case.

Learn more about child sexual abuse

Reporting child sexual abuse

Support for child sex abuse victims