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STATE WIDE–The database released by the Southern Baptist Convention, of known and some publicly unknown cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation by pastors and church employees, contains at least 15 entries from Indiana. The database is still being updated.
As of Friday, it was 205 pages long.
The document was previously private, but was made public in response to Guidepost Solutions report on the existence of the list.
Other denominations have also faced public criticism for their policies on reporting (or in many cases, not reporting) child sexual abuse. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the church prefers to handle matters internally, which most times results in no criminal punishment for offenders. In the case of the Catholic Church, matters divulged in confession must remain confidential. Both churches have faced civil penalties because of the policies.
In the case of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Convention’s Executive Committee called for making the list public as the first step in addressing child sex abuse within the church and looking at possible reforms.
Some of the names in the Convention’s database are redacted (blacked out). Most of the ones already known or dealt with and previously publicized, are not.
They are as follows:
A.V. Ballenger, a former Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Hammond (not Southern Baptist), accused of abusing a 7-year-old girl in 1993, and sentenced to five years in prison in 1996.
Craig A. Burden, former music leader at Calvary Baptist Church in Lafayette, convicted of possession of child pornography. He got out of prison in 2018, and cannot have contact with minors, unless permission is given.
Mark Comford, former youth leader at First Baptist Church in LaPorte, serving a 20-year sentence for molesting at least 7 young boys. A civil suit accused the grandfather, Jack Cox, pastor of the church, of knowing about the abuse, but doing nothing about it.
James E. Crawn, former pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Idaville, serving 18 years for molesting two teenagers for over a decade.
Terry Wayne Dobbs, former pastor of Old Fashion United Baptist Church of Yorktown, serving nine years for molestation and child solicitation.
Scott Grose, a former youth volunteer with First Baptist Church of Sellersburg, sentenced in 2010 to 20 years in prison for child molestation. He had been in trouble previously and had already been ordered to register as a sex offender.
Derrick “Duke” Hampsch, former youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Vincennes, sentenced to 20 years in 2015, for sex acts with his youth group, and groping a 14-year-old girl.
Chester Mulligan, former pastor of Central Baptist Church in Crowne Point, was arrested on two counts of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty to felony stalking in 2001.
Spencer K. Osbourne, former assistant pastor of New Covenant Free Will Baptist Church in Indianapolis, was convicted of bigamy and in 1993, of molesting a 7-year-old girl. He was sentenced to a month in jail on the bigamy charge. The report did not say what happened on the molestation charge.
Jordan Lee Roseboom, former youth ministry volunteer at Rock Point Baptist Church in Crawfordsville, served three years on convictions for molesting 10 boys. He was released in 2017.
Jack Schapp, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, was fired after admitting to an affair with a 16-year-old church member. There were no charges because the age of consent in Indiana is 16.
Bernard Squires, former pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Columbia City, convicted of distributing child pornography. He’s serving a 12-year sentence in federal prison.
The rest of the cases are blacked out, but include a volunteer church bus driver accused of sex with a 13-year-old he met at the church; a pastor charged with fondling an 11-year-old girl at least twice; and the abuse if a disabled adult by a pastor.
Most details are left out of the redacted reports. In most of the reports the offenders were also required to register as sex offendenders for varying lengths of time, and also served or must serve probation.
Most of the info in the database was compiled from news articles.
“Each entry in this list reminds us of the devastation and destruction brought about by sexual abuse,” said Executive Committee leaders Rolland Slade and Willie McLaurin, in a joint statement. “Our prayer is that the survivors of these heinous acts find hope and healing, and that churches will utilize this list proactively to protect and care for the most vulnerable among us.”
The Convention was accused of mishandling the abuse accusations by keeping the list private for well over a decade, as it grew.
