June 12, 2007 Chicago Tribune |
Should clergy sex offenders be treated differently?
Five years after America’s Roman Catholic bishops approved measures to keep track of priests accused of sexual misconduct, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination on Tuesday will consider similar steps toward developing a database of its own clergy convicted or credibly accused of sexual harassment or abuse. Unless a rumored appearance from President Bush intervenes, Rev. Wade Burleson will introduce a resolution Tuesday morning that calls on the Southern Baptist Convention to study possible reforms he believes would protect children. Burleson, a pastor from Oklahoma, will ask the convention to request “a feasibility study concerning the development of a database of Southern Baptist ministers who have been credibly accused of, personally confessed to, or legally been convicted of sexual harassment or abuse, and that such a database be accessible to Southern Baptist churches in order to assist in preventing any future sexual abuse or harassment.” Unlike the Catholic Church, there is no hierarchy or chain of command in the Baptist world. There is also no review board or panel of professionals who can weigh the credibility of an accusation or confession after the criminal statute of limitations has run out. But there is a universal concern in the church for the safety of women and children, Burleson said. “I think you’ll find that everyone at the Southern Baptist Convention definitely desires to do something to protect our children and our women from sexual predators who may be in the ministry,” he said during a telephone interview from San Antonio. Burleson said people are rightfully concerned that ministers could be added to the database based on false allegations, which is why a professional review board would help. He hopes a study would lead the convention to reach that conclusion and create such a review board and offer some form of due process. Last week, the Texas Baptist Convention announced it would post the names of convicted clergy sex offenders, which are already made public by the state. Burleson said that if the Southern Baptist Convention follows that model, it will miss the point. Clergy offenders should still be held accountable for wrongdoing even if their victims don’t come forward for decades, he said. Steps should also be taken to ensure that pastors who confess such crimes but can’t remember or find their victims are outed and permanently removed from ministry, he said. “I think the standards for ministers should be higher than anybody else,” he said. “I definitely think any kind of sexual misconduct of someone in a pastoral position should be available and known. I don’t know how and I don’t know where you draw the line. But when the perpetrator is actually harming a victim that must be known.” Do you agree? Should the names of clergy accused of sexual misconduct be made public even if they are not criminally convicted of a crime? What other questions could spring from this study? Should the convention host a hotline for reporting cases of sexual abuse by clergy-both old and new? I will post updates of the convention’s response to the resolution later today. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/religion_theseeker/2007/06/should_clergy_s.html
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