Top Southern Baptist committee funds sex abuse probe

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A top Southern Baptist Convention committee agreed Tuesday to fund a third-party investigation into its handling of sexual abuse allegations but held off on waiving its attorney-client privilege for the probe, delaying for the future a decision seen as a key demand of the thousands of Southern Baptists who set the review in motion. They also directed the task force to agree to the investigator’s recommended standards and best practices, “including but not limited to the Executive Committee staff and members waiving attorney-client privilege in order to ensure full access to information and accuracy in the review.” In August, the task force formally asked the Executive Committee to waive it, saying it is the will of the messengers and critical to the investigation. Julie Myers Wood, the CEO of Guidepost Solutions, told the Executive Committee waiving privilege is the “only way to ensure that the investigation is viewed as fully credible, transparent and thorough and to show that the EC has and the Southern Baptist Convention has nothing to hide.” On Tuesday, the members took hours to hash out what they ultimately approved, which also included asking the task force and Executive Committee officers to come up with a contract in seven days that did not waive attorney-client privilege. “However, there are also laws that govern fiduciary responsibility and we don’t want to break those laws either.” SBC President Ed Litton said in a statement that Tuesday’s decision by the Executive Committee fell short of the mandate the delegates gave in June.