HOUSTON — The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has been added as a co-defendant in a lawsuit accusing retired Texas state judge Paul Pressler of sexual abuse.
A Jan. 12 amendment to a suit originally filed last October claims the SBC, among other defendants, had a “duty to exercise reasonable care so as to control” Pressler, who helped engineer a strategy to turn the Southern Baptist Convention back to its theologically conservative roots in the late 20th century.
Pressler denies the allegations by plaintiff Gareld Duane Rollins, who claimed Pressler sexually abused him repeatedly between the late 1970s, when Rollins was 14, and 2004. Rollins’ petition alleges he was enrolled in a young adult Bible study which Pressler led at First Baptist Church, Houston, and later served as Pressler’s office assistant.
Pressler, 87, was a justice on the Court of Appeals of Texas, 14th District, and a member of the Texas Legislature. He also served Southern Baptists in various volunteer capacities.
Other defendants in the lawsuit — all of whom have denied Rollins’ allegations that they facilitated and concealed the abuse — include Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; its president Paige Patterson; Pressler’s wife, Nancy; First, Houston; Pressler’s former law partner Jared Woodfill; and the Woodfill Law Firm.
Pressler filed a Dec. 21 motion asking for the dismissal of Rollins’ suit because the statute of limitations has expired on its claims of abuse, the last of which allegedly occurred more than a decade ago. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Feb. 23. (BP)
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