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HOUSTON (AP) — Paul Pressler, a number one determine of the Southern Baptist Conference who was accused of sexually abusing boys and younger males and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations, has died. He was 94.
Pressler’s demise, which occurred on June 7, was introduced in an obituary posted on-line by Geo. H. Lewis and Sons Funeral Dwelling in Houston. A funeral service for Pressler was held on Saturday. A reason behind demise was not disclosed.
The information of Pressler’s demise was first reported by Baptist News Global.
Pressler was one of many co-architects of the Southern Baptist Conference’s “conservative resurgence,” an effort within the Eighties that reshaped the route of America’s largest Protestant denomination. Pressler and others pushed out extra liberal leaders, helped forge an alliance between white evangelicals and Republican conservatism and centered on electing GOP candidates to public workplace.
The Southern Baptist Conference has over 47,000 church buildings, with a complete membership of almost 13 million folks, in response to its web site. As many as 200 are counted as “mega-churches” however the overwhelming majority have lower than 200 folks in weekly worship. Most of its church buildings are situated within the southern U.S. The denomination’s government committee is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a 2015 video through which he endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz throughout his failed presidential run, Pressler stated he’s devoted his life “to the conservative rules on which our nation was based.”
“I believe that individuals are genuinely upset with the instructions in Washington. I consider if we shouldn’t have good folks in Washington, we’re not going to avoid wasting our nation,” Pressler stated.
However Pressler’s non secular legacy was stained after he was accused by a former assistant, Gareld Duane Rollins, of sexual assault. In a lawsuit filed in 2017 in Harris County, the place Houston is situated, Rollins alleged that Pressler raped him when he was 14 years previous after the 2 met at a Bible research group led by Pressler, in response to courtroom data. Rollins alleged that Pressler continued to periodically sexually assault him over the subsequent 24 years.
The Related Press often doesn’t identify victims who allege sexual assault or abuse however Rollins and his legal professionals publicly recognized him in courtroom paperwork.
Rollins additionally sued the Southern Baptist Conference and others whom he alleged lined up or enabled Pressler’s conduct. As a part of the lawsuit, at the very least seven different males additionally got here ahead with their very own accusations towards Pressler of sexual abuse.
The claims by Rollins prompted a significant investigation by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News of allegations of sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Conference. The collection of tales revealed that prime leaders had ignored or downplayed warnings a couple of sexual abuse disaster inside the Protestant denomination and it led to important reforms.
In December, Pressler, the Southern Baptist Conference and others reached a confidential settlement to settle the lawsuit.
Pressler denied the accusations towards him and was by no means criminally charged.
The Southern Baptist Conference held its annual assembly final week however didn’t seem to acknowledge Pressler’s demise throughout the occasion. A spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Conference didn’t instantly return emails on Sunday searching for remark.
Pressler additionally served within the Texas Home, representing the Houston space within the late Nineteen Fifties. In 1970, he was appointed as a state district decide. Eight years later, he was appointed as a state appeals courtroom decide and served in that place till retiring in 1993, in response to his obituary posted on-line.
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