Federal Judge Dismisses Sex-Abuse Lawsuit Against Vindicated Paige Patterson
Despite being “credibly accused” of covering up sexual abuse while president of Southwestern Baptist Theologua Theology, a federal judge has dismissed the entire slate of claims against Paige Patterson and SWBTS.
In 2018 SWBTS President Paige Patterson was then under fire for a spate of offensive comments that were unearthed as him having said. Then accusations that he had covered up sexual abuse on campus hit, and that was enough for the Board of Trustees. Believing Patterson concealed some unspecified rape while in the throes of the #metoo movement, they “unanimously resolved to terminate Dr. Paige Patterson, effective immediately, removing all the benefits, rights and privileges.
In 2019, a former seminary student, ‘Jane Roe’ brought a lawsuit against Patterson and SWBTS, alleging that another student, John Doe, sexually assaulted her multiple times and that when she went to report it, she says Patterson and SBTWS sought to sweep it under the rug and minimize its severity.
In a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan, he said the plaintiff didn’t meet the standard of proof for her accusations of coverup or mishandling. He wrote
“Claims that) “women who tried to report sexual harassment and sexual abuse were ignored, dismissed or disciplined themselves…is a gross distortion of the evidence before the court. The proposition that SWBTS has a history of condoning sexual assault or sexual harassment of female students has not been proven by Roe and is not supported by the record in this case.”
“Roe never directly told Patterson or anyone at SWBTS of her concerns that Doe was stalking her. Nor did Roe make any sexual harassment, sexual assault, or any other complaint about Doe prior to August 2015. It is further undisputed that the first time Roe told Patterson and SWBTS that she had been raped by Doe was on August 20, 2015 — the date she made her report to the school — months after the sexual assaults allegedly occurred. At that time, Patterson and SWBTS immediately notified local law enforcement authorities of Roe’s outcry, and Roe was interviewed by the Fort Worth Police Department. Roe declined to pursue charges against Doe.”
He then concluded:
This move is a blow against movers and shakers within the SBC’s #meetoo movement, who have long regarded Patterson as guilty as sin and the perfect example of “credibly accused” gone right. Instead, they’ll have to own him as a blistering example of ‘credibly accused’ gone wrong.
About Author
There are times when we should let things go, and forgive and forget even in some cases where those who sinned against us remain unrepentant and we are not obligated to do so. The compulsion is to take it on ourselves, to not cause further harm, out of compassion to show mercy even when it isn’t due, particularly when benefactors and future students could likely bear the weight of it, rather than those who committed the sins.
This isn’t one of those times.
This mess ends when the Biblical standard for dealing with false accusation is honored. (Duet. 19:15-21) The false accusers must face consequences equal to those intended for the accused, and that punishment must be carried out without pity.
Mr. Patterson needs to sue the individuals who falsely accused him, and the school which did the same. And he needs to show no pity in doing so. That’s the only way this mess stops.
Given the particular false accusations involved, according to 1 Cor. 5, if applied to fornicators and those who support them, as verse 1 condemns fornication, then the false accusers’ punishment should also include disfellowship.