How would people find out?

A recent Massachusetts case illustrates how much easier it is nowadays to find out about a Catholic priest accused of abuse than about a Southern Baptist minister accused of abuse.

Allegations about the sexual abuse of a minor were made to the Fall River diocese review board in January 2008. The allegations involved retired priest Bento Fraga. An investigation was conducted, and the review board found the allegations to be credible. Fraga was removed from ministry, and in March 2008, a letter from the bishop was distributed at mass in every parish where Fraga had worked since 1956.

Thus, within just 3 months’ time, people in the pews at every church where Fraga had worked were informed about the “credible accusations” against him. And they were informed by a person of authority within the faith community so that there was little room for doubt about the seriousness of it.

Consider what this meant for people. Parents gained the possibility of talking with their kids – even their now-adult kids -- about the allegations against Fraga. The victim who reported Fraga gained the peace-of-mind of knowing that others had been warned. And any other still-silent victims saw that they would be supported if they too spoke up.

Fraga wasn’t convicted of anything. He wasn’t even charged. This is true of most clergy child molesters because, by the time a victim is psychologically capable of reporting the abuse, it is usually too late for criminal prosecution.

This reality -- that most child molesters can't be prosecuted -- is why Catholics and other major Protestant groups instituted review board processes. They took up the mantle of responsibility for oversight of their own clergy rather than relying solely on the criminal justice system.

Review board determinations also allow for the community-at-large to be informed because they provide reporters with substantiation for writing about “credibly accused” clergy. The Fraga article wasn’t about a criminal conviction or even about a civil lawsuit. Rather, it was the determination of a Catholic review board that allowed the public to hear news about Fraga.

By contrast, Southern Baptists don’t have such review boards, and so the public winds up hearing nothing about the vast majority of accused Baptist clergy child molesters.

Without any assistance from denominational leaders, even the most outspoken victims often find that their efforts are futile when they try to expose Baptist clergy perpetrators. Victims cannot alone do the job of trying to protect others.

For those of you who have been down this road and who have attempted to report Baptist clergy sex abuse, can you even imagine how much better it would have been if you could have reported your perpetrator through a review process such as the one in the Fall River diocese?

Oh sure, you’d still have the trauma of the abuse itself, all the nightmares that go with it, and all the difficulty of coming to grips with it. I’m not diminishing that in the least. But with a review process like the one in Fall River, at least you wouldn’t have the retraumatizing effect of an endless stream of Baptist leaders who turn a blind eye, who bully and shame victims, and who leave perpetrators in their pulpits. At least you wouldn’t have the constant struggle of trying to figure out on your own how to warn others and of worrying that he could be hurting someone else in exactly the same way he hurt you. And at least you wouldn’t have the maze of dark alleys and dead ends that Baptist church and denominational leaders use to misdirect victims who report abuse.

For those of you who are parents in Baptist pews, wouldn’t you like to know about Baptist clergy who are “credibly accused” of child molestation? And wouldn’t you prefer that such serious news should come from someone in leadership?

But who’s going to provide you that information?

In Southern Baptist circles, no one has taken on the mantle of responsibility for informing people in the pews about credibly accused clergy. No one.

The tragic result of such an institutionalized lack of accountability is predictable. People in Baptist pews don’t usually find out about clergy sex abuse, and credibly accused clergy simply continue in ministry.