SWBTS responds to sexual abuse lawsuit

SWBTS President “Greenway responded to a personal injury lawsuit that alleges “Jane Roe” was forcibly raped at gunpoint on at least three occasions from October 2014 through April 2015 by a fellow student with an extensive criminal history who also was employed as an SWBTS plumber.” - BPNews

Discussion

I’m sad to see that someone apparently has a case, but I’m hopeful because SWBTS is starting the discussion by admitting that they can and will have problems due to human sin, and that they may need to make some apologies. This is a very welcome change.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

I have read some of the legal complaint against SWBTS. Everyone involved looks terrible, and there were more than a few times when I had to put it down and walk away. Paige Patterson, in particular, looks like a real monster in every sense of the word.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells

This is a civil suit, and the allegations don’t have to be backed by a criminal or regulatory investigation, or by any resemblance to facts. That means we should always to take representations in civil suits with a grain of salt.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

Tyler, keep in mind that in both civil and criminal complaints, perjury is a crime that is occasionally punished. The real caution here, civil or criminal, is that the plaintiff must (absent a dingbat jury) prove their case first—though admittedly civil cases are easier to win, having a lower burden of proof.

For my part, a cursory reading of the accusation reveals a fairly simple set of facts the jury will use to decide. (or mediator)

  • Did SWBTS perform a criminal background check and reference check on the plumber?
  • If they did, did they hire someone with a serious criminal record that should have required a different approach to that person’s employment?
  • Does SWBTS have Title IX documentation that details how the case was handled? What does it indicate about the case?

My bet is that if the answer to the first question is “no”, SWBTS will ask to proceed to mediation. In that case, the amount settled on will depend on the second and third questions. And at this point, what I can say for sure is that it’s a relief that (unlike Patterson in his “defense” of himself last year) SWBTS is not selectively leaking Title IX documents already. They have that much down.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him. -Proverbs 18:17 NKJV

David R. Brumbelow

This is a civil suit, and the allegations don’t have to be backed by a criminal or regulatory investigation, or by any resemblance to facts.

That is true - and David’s reference to Proverbs 18:17 is certainly warranted - but it seems to me that there are all sorts of verifiable facts provided within the complaint. There are, for example, verbatim text and email exchanges, specific dates and times of meetings with the involved parties listed, an investigation about the possession of illegal weapons by the local police department, etc.

Some of it can and will be misunderstood/misrepresented for sure. But other facts are not going to be easily pushed aside. Discovery will not be for the faint of heart.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells

Here’s the Houston Chronicle on this case. It has a lot of similarities to one of the cases that was involved in driving Patterson from SWBTS, and if it’s the same one, it appears to be one where Patterson was selectively releasing Title IX documents to “defend” himself—ironically (IMO) making it absolutely imperative for him to be fired. SWBTS could weather bad decisions and the wrath of the “twitterverse”, but Title IX documents being illegally released could have brought a horde of DoEd lawyers there and basically shut the place down.

If you read the article carefully, you’re going to see a number of places where you will, or will not, have a lot of corroborating evidence. Since SWBTS can theoretically countersue if all this falls apart, my guess is a huge portion of it is real, and this lawsuit will be settled before trial.

Saddest thing; this young lady’s faith may be darned near trashed as a result.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Dr. Paige Patterson’s letter to the Houston Chronicle:

February 14, 2019

Mr. Steve Riley

Acting Editor

The Houston Chronicle

4747 Southwest Freeway

Houston, Texas 77027

Dear Mr. Editor:

For 42 years, I have said to each graduating class, “If you have not settled forever the issue of sexual purity, take your diploma tomorrow and leave church ministry altogether.” I feel compelled to respond to the Houston Chronicle article in which I was cited.

In the case of Darrell Gilyard, Dr. Keith Eitel (now a dean at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) and Dr. Danny Akin (now president at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) worked directly with me to uncover and confirm Darrell’s unfaithfulness to Christ. Dr. Keith Eitel has film of the proceedings of Gilyard’s discipline at the Criswell College, and Gilyard was consequently expelled from school. Dr. Akin accompanied me to Gilyard’s church to be certain that he resigned. I called as many places as I knew where he was scheduled to preach and asked them to cancel his invitation. Most did cancel, and he no longer speaks in Southern Baptist churches.

Further, letters exist in my file from the young woman at Southeastern thanking me for the way in which her situation was handled. She now (more than a decade later) claims to have been raped. According to Dr. Akin as quoted in a Baptist Press article, the term “rape” was not found in the report in her official student file, and there are no details of information being given to me or of my involvement in the matter. Dr. Akin did confirm that my vice presidents had handled the matter properly as this was during the transition of my presidency to Southwestern.

Fort Worth Police records show that within seconds of receiving an allegation of rape at Southwestern by a female student with her mother present, I called the police. They arrived in less than twenty minutes. The young man – also a student – was immediately dismissed from the school. The young woman was asked by me to file charges against him, and she refused. The Southwestern trustees even confirmed in a public statement, “evidence exists that Dr. Patterson has complied with reporting laws regarding assault and abuse.”

Houston Chronicle reporters have slandered and totally misrepresented me, and in so doing have significantly harmed my ministry. The events they report are tragic. However, there is no reason to punish the innocent with the wicked. I applaud SBC president Dr. J.D. Greear for doing all that he can to bring this abrogation of righteousness and justice to a halt. Anyone abusing a child, a woman, or any weaker person is wrong and marked by deviant behavior. Anyone claiming to be a follower of Christ who acts in such a way or who protects one who preys upon another is both opprobrious and ignoble. Anyone claiming to be a minister of the Gospel who is thus involved is reprehensible and should not continue in the ministry.

The facts are available to anyone who wishes to know the truth. A good investigative reporter should study existing evidence to identify and bring to justice those who are guilty, being careful not to accuse one who has been completely cleared of the charges alleged.

Until He comes,

Paige Patterson

Dallas, Texas

https://www.paigepatterson.org/blog/letter-to-the-editor

David R. Brumbelow

I do not mean to be disrespectful. I do not want to cause a fire storm, but I have a question. How does one get raped on three separate occasions at gunpoint? I am serious, not meaning to cast doubt on the accuser.

Those that are wiser than I am, can you explain?

Jim,

It’s actually completely understandable why you are confused.

If there is an conditional element of harm attached to having sex with someone - I will shoot you (or kill myself, which is something else her assailant said to Jane), then it’s no longer consensual and becomes rape or one of several other criminal charges.

Findlaw defines it thusly:

The crime of rape generally refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse that is committed by physical force, threat of injury, or other duress.

Common law defined rape as unlawful intercourse by a man against a woman who is not his wife by force or threat and against her will.

I hope that clears it up.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells

Jim, what Jay says, and you might ask in the same way how many of Larry Nassar’s victims were repeatedly violated. The answer is that those who were violated did not perceive the freedom to leave. In this case, the victim was simply afraid the police would not neutralize the threat, which makes sense when we consider that when a group looked at sexual assault cases in Minnesota, in only 20% of the cases were basic protocols followed. Scary thing is that if conviction rates are an indication, we’re better than average here. A tremendous number of sexual assault victims, about 69%, do not even report for reasons like this.

(in the gymnastics cases, it’s more complicated—it looked sort of like medical care, Nassar had enormous prestige, and gymnasts are conditioned to some pretty amazing obedience by the very nature of the sport—it’s all about what the judges, other people, think)

Regarding Patterson’s February statement, the “I have thank you notes” means nothing to me, as I view it as entirely likely that a student would be bullied into silence by victim-blaming, and then more or less be forced to write the thank you notes as a condition of staying in school. It’s also worth noting that he was, again, sharing data that really belonged to Title IX efforts without permission. So that letter that David shared was probably a BIG part of why the lawsuit was filed.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

It has a lot of similarities to one of the cases that was involved in driving Patterson from SWBTS, and if it’s the same one, it appears to be one where Patterson was selectively releasing Title IX documents to “defend” himself—ironically (IMO) making it absolutely imperative for him to be fired.

There are at least two separate cases involving Patterson at SBC-affiliated seminaries. One involved a woman by the name of Megan Lively at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jane Roe (the woman involved in this case) was allegedly raped at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014-2015, eleven years later.

I know that’s an older post but wanted to make sure that everyone understood that it’s multiple incidents over more than a decade, not just the same case.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells

Joe, read the complaint provided by Jay. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of points of reference and a lot of likely witnesses to Patterson’s conduct, and if a good portion of them come through, whether or not a “break her down” email is found or not will not matter. My nickel bet is that these points of reference exist and will hold up under cross examination, because lawyers really dislike being embarrassed in court—not to mention legal discipline in the case most of it is false.

But that said, things get even worse if someone says they saw it, and it’s not in the custody of SWBTS. Again, Title IX.

Final note; my comment from yesterday at 3pm was guessing that this case is precisely the SWBTS case Jay mentions. I can’t say it conclusively, and for that matter, some people around the scene are suggesting that there are a number of cases which haven’t bubbled to the surface yet.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.