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CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) -- Paul
Williams, minister of prayer and special projects at Bellevue
Baptist Church, sexually abused his son 17 years ago, according to a
report from the church’s investigative committee. The committee
announced its findings to the congregation Jan. 28.
“Paul Williams engaged in egregious,
perverse, sexual activity with his adolescent son over a period of
12 to 18 months,” the report said. “Paul became convicted of his
actions, and he stopped. He asked for forgiveness from his son and
never touched him inappropriately again. At that time Paul told no
one else.”
Williams first came under public
suspicion Dec. 17, after Bellevue leaders told the church he had
committed a “moral failure” that required his leave of absence and
an investigation into the allegations. Williams has since been
fired.
The month-long investigation, lead by
David Coombs, administrative pastor, included interviews with
witnesses, the seizure of Williams’ computers, and three
face-to-face interviews with Williams.
Williams, who had served at Bellevue
for 34 years, told investigators he was sexually abused as a child.
Steve Gaines, senior pastor at the
Memphis-area megachurch, told the congregation Williams had
confessed the misconduct to him six months earlier. Gaines later
said he should have immediately disclosed the information to church
leadership. Gaines did not participate in the investigation.
At least 10 people affiliated with
the church knew about the abuse before Dec. 7, when William’s
now-married son and two friends told Gaines, the report said. The
group included family members, a retired Bellevue staff member, and
Jamie Fish, who works in the church’s Biblical Guidance office.
Adrian Rogers, the now-deceased legendary pastor of Bellevue,
reportedly was unaware of Williams' abuse.
Christa Brown, founder of Voice to
Stop Baptist Predators, said she isn’t surprised that so many people
knew about the abuse. The “miracle” is that it was publicized at
all, she said. Brown also works for the Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests, a volunteer self-help organization of survivors
of clergy sexual abuse.
“In many ways, the dynamics of clergy
abuse are akin to the dynamics of incest, except the church family
is much bigger,” she said. “In most cases, other ministerial
colleagues and deacons and often even church family members are
simply not capable of receiving that kind of information about a
beloved minister and objectively considering it, investigating, and
doing the right thing.”
That’s why churches should use
outside intervention with cases like this, Brown added. She
emphasized that denominational offices should give congregations
resources for handling clergy abuse. And she called for a
denominational office -- not run by the local churches -- to which
victims can report crimes.
“If a church with the sort of
resources that Bellevue has … still did such an awful job of
handling this, why would anyone imagine that churches with much
lesser resources would be capable of handling it any better than
Bellevue?” she said. “They aren't. It's usually even worse.”
Had Williams considered the welfare
of the church family, he would have resigned, committee members
said. While molesting a child is bad enough, to continue working in
ministerial duties involving sensitive issues is without excuse,
committee members wrote in the report.
“Starting with Paul, there appears to
have been no serious consideration given by anyone to the health and
safety of the Bellevue family,” the report said. “On Paul’s part,
there appears to never have been any time in 17 years that any
consideration was given to the effect that having a child molester
on the ministerial staff of Bellevue Baptist Church would have on
the church. His only consideration appears to have been to keep his
job and, in the team’s opinion, to stay out of jail.”
According to the report, Williams did
not seek help for himself or his son until recently, when his son
initiated counseling. Williams told investigators he “checked every
year or so to make sure all was right” between the two of them.
Calling the church “ill-prepared,”
the report blamed a “lack of knowledge” for the delay in removing
Williams from his post. No policies on problems of “a sensitive
nature” existed, and a precedent of keeping those issues under wraps
in order to protect the church and families from embarrassment led
leaders to avoid disclosure, the report said.
“Policies, procedures and protocols
were and are inadequate,” committee members said. “There has been a
feeling that policy and procedures of this type [regarding sexual
abuse] were more suitable for the world than for the church. This
feeling is not only found in Bellevue Baptist Church, but also is
prevalent across churches in general. The events relating to the
Paul Williams issue have vividly brought to light the need for
change.”
The investigation committee stated
Williams “did not pose a danger or risk to children at the church”
from 2006, when Bellevue Baptist Church ministers learned of his
past sexual misconduct, until the time of his dismissal. However,
some church members told interviewers they felt they had been
violated by Williams when he asked inappropriate questions in the
course of his ministerial duties.
The committee recommended that
Bellevue provide or pay for counseling for those who felt they were
harmed by Williams or felt hurt by the church’s inaction. Bellevue
is in contact with the Tennessee Department of Child Services
through its attorneys and is cooperating fully with that agency.
Additional Information:
Bellevue
‘ill-prepared’ for child molestation, report states
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