MEMPHIS, Tenn.– Top Southern Baptist church leaders released a 205-page previously secret and explosive list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse, including many pastors from the Mid-South.
The 205-page database includes both visible and redacted entries. The nearly 300-page report detailed how the Southern Baptist Executive Committee mishandled sex abuse allegations and stonewalled numerous survivors.
The SBC’s alleged abuser list includes many pastors from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
It was released in response to the highly critical bombshell report by Guidepost Solutions.
The database shows in 2006 Paul Williams, an assistant pastor and minister of prayer and special projects at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, admitted he was guilty of sexually abusing a family member in 1990.
Pastor Steve Gaines told the congregation Williams had confessed to him six months earlier. He received criticism for not reporting the abuse earlier. Williams was later fired.
The list says in 2018 Andy Savage, the teaching pastor at Highpoint Church in Memphis, resigned after admitting to the congregation in 1998 as a youth minister near Houston he had a sexual incident with a high school student.
Also on the SBC list is Demarcus Smith. In 2015, the pastor at Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis was sentenced to 85 months in prison on child pornography possession charges.
Another alleged abuser is the son of an East Arkansas preacher. In 2015, Nathaniel Hull Jr. of First Baptist Church, West Helena, was arrested for the rape of a 13-year-old girl.
Also on the list and from North Mississippi is Edward Earl “Eddie” Prince, the pastor at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Hernando. He was arrested for possession of child pornography.
In a statement released earlier this week, SBC President Ed Litton called on Southern Baptists to lament in prayer and prepare to implement reforms, adding he was “grieved to my core” for victims.
Read the full list of Mid-South church officials included on the SBC’s list below (organized by state):
ARKANSAS:
2015 – Nathaniel Hull Jr., preacher’s son, First Baptist Church, West Helena, AR
- Hull was arrested in 2015 for the rape of a 13- year-old girl. DNA confirms the victim’s baby is the offender’s.
2012 – Paul “Kevin” Hendrix, youth minister, FBC in Cherokee Village, AR
- He admitted he had engaged in sexual activities with a 14-year-old girl.
- He was fined $3,500, sentenced to 120 months of probation, and must register as a sex offender.
2019 – Derek L Smittle, youth volunteer, First Baptist Centerton, Centerton, AR
- Smittle was arrested on January 14, 2019, in connection with first-degree sexual assault involving a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl who went to the church. Even though the pastor stated that Smittle was not a youth pastor or in a position of church authority, Smittle told police he had been teaching Sunday School for four years and hosting Bible studies at his home.
- Former Centerton Church Volunteer Arrested On Sexual Assault Charge
2012 – Travis Payne, pastor, South Texarkana Baptist Church, Texarkana, AR
- Payne was convicted of sexual assault. The victim was reported to be a 3-year-old.
- He was sentenced to five years in prison. Later died.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Pastor found guilty
2012 – 2009 David Kent Pierce, former minister of music, FBC, Benton, AR
- He pleaded guilty in September 2009 to four counts of sexual indecency with a child involving 3 young men. He served 2 years of a 10-year sentence. His parole decision was postponed.
- He also pleaded guilty in 2009 to four counts of sexual indecency with a child in Arkansas. He was sentenced to 72 months on two of those charges and 48 additional months on two other charges, plus additional time on probation. He served time in Arkansas prison and is now a registered sex offender in Florida.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2017 – Richard Thomas Riley, a former teacher at LifeWay Christian School
- He was sentenced to 24 years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a student. The school is a ministry of First Baptist Centerton, Centerton, AR.
- Former Centerton teacher sentenced to 24 years in prison
2018 – 1998 Timothy Lee Reddin, 49
- In 1998, Reddin, while serving as DOM, Central Baptist Association, Benton, AR, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for having child pornography on his computer. AR SBC 153 and 1998
- In 2018, Reddin messaged an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent posing online as an underage male to arrange a meeting for sex. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of attempted online enticement of a minor. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison but could receive a life sentence as well as a $250,000 fine.
- He has served Southern Baptist as the following: Pastor, Turner Street Baptist Church, Springdale, AR (Not on SBC Workspace) Pastor, Central Baptist Church, Conway, AR Pastor, Pines Baptist Church, Quitman, AR.
- Prior to 1998, he served as the following: pastor, Barcelona Road Baptist Church, Hot Springs Village, AR, pastor, Elmcrest Baptist Church, Abilene, TX 1998 – Director of Missions, Central Baptist Association in Benton, AR, and taught High School for 3 years in Heber Springs and McCrory
- Springdale Pastor Admits Plan To Meet Teen For Sex
- 18 years after child porn conviction, Baptist pastor accused of trying to entice a minor
- Springdale pastor arrested in connection with seeking sex
2018 – Mark Aderholt, 46
- He was arrested in 2018 in South Carolina on charges of sexual assault which occurred in 1996-97 when Aderholt (25) was an SWBTS student. The victim was 16.
- In 2019, Aderholt pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily injury crimes against. Plea deal. His sentence was wiped clean and he will not be on the Sex Offender Registry.
- Aderholt was employed by the IMB from 2000 to 2008.
- In 2007, IMB was informed of the abuse and an internal investigation lead to Aderholt’s resignation. IMB did not report it to the police. He went on to be employed at Immanuel Baptist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, Arkansas, and the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
- In 2018, IMB’s president David Platt issued a public statement of apology.
- Additional investigations led to policy changes at IMB.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2016 – David Wayne Farren
- He sexually assaulted a 16-yr-old girl in 2013 when he was her youth pastor and another teenage girl he met at church. He is to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.
- He worked in the following positions: Lead Pastor, of Anchor Church in Texarkana, AR, pastor and youth director of other Texarkana-area churches – Heritage Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church, and Faith Church.
- Pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault; sentenced to 180 months in 2017 in the negotiated plea agreement. In Arkansas state prison.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Texarkana pastor sentenced to 15 years for sexual abuse
2002 – John Lankston Anderson Jr., former pastor, Carbon Hill First Baptist, Carbon Hill, AL
- He was charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse of juveniles under the age of 12, pleaded guilty to all charges, and was sentenced to 3 yrs.
- Immediately transferred to Arkansas, where he pleaded guilty to another sex abuse charge and was sentenced to 10 more years. Served prison sentences in both states.
- He worked in the following positions: Pulpit preacher at Southside in Russellville, Natural Bridge Baptist, West Blocton Baptist, Hartselle Baptist, and other churches in Mississippi
- Pleaded guilty in 2002 to 3 counts of sexual abuse in Alabama and was sentenced to three years. Immediately transferred to Arkansas, where he pleaded guilty to another sex abuse charge and was sentenced to 10 more years.
- Served prison sentences in both states.
- On the Sex Offender Registry in Tennessee and listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2010 – Tim Ray Ballard, principal of a Baptist-sponsored Christian school, Sylvan Hills First Baptist Church, AR
- He was charged with one count of sexual assault in the first degree and four counts of sexual assault in the second degree, in conjunction with his alleged relationship with former students at the school.
- Became a registered sex offender in Arkansas for offenses of first- and second-degree sexual assault in 2011. Received five years probation.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Coach gets 60 days, five years probation
- Baptist school coach, principal charged with sexual assault
2015 – Timothy E. Patton, former music minister, Danville First Baptist Church, Danville, AR
- He was arrested following accusations of 2nd-degree sexual assault, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and the purchase or possession of intoxicating liquor by minor.
- A court document from August 6, 2015, showed Patton will plead no contest to sexual assault, 2nd degree, a Class B felony, years ADC with 3 additional years SIS. 1 day jail time credit. The defendant will register as a sex offender.
MISSISSIPPI
2011 – Edward Earl “Eddie” Prince, pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Hernando, MS
- He was arrested for possession of child pornography.
- Listed as a sex offender in Mississippi for a 2013 conviction of child exploitation
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2012 – Larry Singleton, pastor, Bay Springs Baptist Church, Abbeville, MS
- He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexual battery of a boy. Bay Springs Baptist Church is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
- Singleton volunteered at an extension campus of Gateway Christian Schools, sponsored by the independent Gateway Baptist Church, Memphis, TN.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Mississippi Pastor Sentenced To 30 Years For Sex Assault
2009 – 2007 Marshal A.Seymour, 40, volunteer youth minister, FBC at the Mall, Lakeland, FL, and former youth minister, Parkway Assembly of God, Mobile, AL
- He faced charges in 2007 of unlawful sexual activity and 3 counts of using a child in sexual performance. He pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree assault in lew of the 2nd-degree sexual abuse charge: 1 17 yr. old boy, 1 16-year-old boy, 1 15-year-old, 1998 – 1 16-year-old boy.
- The church’s background check did not show a previous 1999 Mobile assault conviction which was a misdemeanor.
- In 1999, Seymour moved to Lakeland and began volunteering at FBC at the Mall.
- He is a registered sex offender in Florida. As part of a plea agreement, convicted of three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one charge of directing the sexual performance of a child. Sentenced to a maximum of 10 years on each count. He was released in 2016.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Offender record
- Police record
2017 – Christopher Donald Bean, pastor, Evergreen Baptist Church, Shubuta, MS
- Convicted of unlawful touching of a child and exploitation of a child. Sentenced to five years in 2017. Incarcerated in Mississippi.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2017 – Lloyd C. Schallenberger, volunteered with the youth program and helped with Sunday school at First Baptist Church, Richland, MS.
- He was arrested on charges of sexual battery on a minor in Florida.
- Sentenced to four years probation in July 2017 for willful abuse of a child (following guilty plea), according to Florida prison and court records.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Richland man faces molestation charge in Florida
2016 In 2016, Carlos Smith, pastor/preacher, Unity Baptist Church, Wiggins, MS
- He was convicted of “sexual battery of a girl at the church he previously led.”
- The abuse began in 2011 when the girl was 11.
- Not listed as SBC
- Ex-preacher molested girl for 3 years at church
2018 – Michael Shane Casabella, youth pastor of North Corinth Baptist Church and principal of North Corinth Christian Academy
- He was arrested and convicted in July of fondling, sexual battery, and exploitation of a child in Mississippi and is serving an 8-year prison sentence.
- He was arrested in the Houston area by U.S. marshals in 2018, according to news reports.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- US Marshals capture Alcorn County fugitive
2013 – 2015 Cory Alexander Cotten, Youth minister at Eastview, Glade, and North Columbia Baptist churches
- In 2013, Cotten pleaded guilty to exploitation of children.
- In 2015, he was ordered to serve five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision under the Mississippi Department of Corrections for posing as a woman on Facebook and getting young boys to send nude photos to him.
- Registered sex offender in Mississippi for 2015 conviction of exploitation of children. He pleaded guilty to knowingly receiving and possessing a photo of two minors engaging in sexual conduct and was sentenced to five years in prison, court records show. He appealed, saying prosecutors failed to identify the children by name in an indictment, but an appellate court decision upheld his conviction, records show.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2011 – Sammy Allen Nuckolls, Southern Baptist evangelist and former camp pastor at LifeWay Christian Resources’ FUGE summer youth events
- He is serving a 10-year sentence in Mississippi state prison on three counts of video voyeurism, prison records show.
- Nuckolls originally faced 13 charges of video voyeurism in 2012, but the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned 10 of 13 counts in a ruling in 2015.
- Required to register as a sex offender.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- State Supreme Court reverses convictions of peeping preacher
- Evangelist charged with video voyeurism
TENNESSEE:
2006 – Paul Williams, assistant pastor, minister of prayer and special projects, Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, TN
- In 2006, Williams admitted he was guilty of sexually abusing his son in 1990.
- Bellevue leaders told the church Williams had committed a “moral Failure” that required his leave of absence and an investigation into the allegations.
- Pastor Steve Gaines told the congregation Williams had confessed the misconduct to him six months earlier. He received criticism for not reporting the abuse earlier.
- Williams was later fired.
- Bellevue report: Assistant pastor guilty of sex abuse against son
- Bellevue Report Faults Handling of Minister’s Sexual Abuse
2016 – Jason Evan Kennedy, youth minister, Grace Baptist Church, Karns, TN
- He was arrested for patronizing prostitution and human trafficking.
- Registered sex offender for soliciting a minor for sex. Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2018 – Andy Savage, teaching pastor, Highpoint Church, Memphis, TN, a nondenominational congregation
- He resigned after admitting to the congregation that in 1998 as youth minister at Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church near Houston, now known as Stonebridge Church, he had a sexual incident with a high school student.
- Since the statute of limitations had expired, no charges would be filed.
- Tennessee pastor Andy Savage resigns weeks after admitting ‘sexual incident’ with minor
2015 – Demarcus Smith, pastor, Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Memphis, TN
- He was sentenced to 85 months in prison on child pornography possession charges.
2017 – Heath Tyler Ransom, youth minister intern, Englewood Baptist Church, Jackson, TN
- He was accused of contacting four minors and attempting to persuade them to engage in sexual activity.
- Registered as a sex offender in Tennessee for a 2017 conviction of criminal attempt to commit solicitation of a minor.
- Listed as a felony offender on probation through 2025.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Indictments: Church intern solicited minors
2014 – Larry Michael Berkley, pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Harrison, AR, and former pastor, Victory Baptist Church, Henning, TN
- He was arrested for abuse of over a dozen boys as young as 14 and 18. Police said he plied them with alcohol and marijuana and showed them porn to gain compliance.
- Convicted of 16 crimes, including four counts of aggravated statutory rape and four counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. He was sentenced to 33 years.
- Incarcerated in Tennessee and registered as a sex offender.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database Shiloh Baptist Church, Harrison, AR – Listed on sbc.net TN AR SBC 15 Victory Baptist Church, Henning, TN – Listed on SBC Workspace Former pastor pleads guilty to sexual assault of juveniles
2015 – Christopher Ryan Crossno, Sunday school teacher and volunteer at Spring Creek Baptist Church, Clarksville, TN
- He pleaded guilty to sexual battery for inappropriate contact with a 6-year-old girl in 2012.
- His plea resulted in a three-year suspended sentence. He is to register as a sex offender and undergo a psychosexual evaluation.
- Registered sex offender in Tennessee with a 2015 conviction of sexual battery.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2006 – 2003 Gregory Stanley Dempsey, former minister of music, Oak Street Baptist Church, Soddy-Daisy, TN
- He was charged with 3 counts of statutory rape and 3 counts of sexual battery for abusing a 16-year-old boy in 2003 and confessed to the allegations.
- In 2006, he was pastor of Middle Valley Methodist Church.
- He was convicted of a Sept. 1, 2003, sexual battery by an authority figure, according to his Tennessee Sex Offender Registry.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Former Pastor Must Serve 11/29 For Statutory Rape
2012 – Charles Alan “Chuck” Denton, retired police sergeant and associate pastor, Bethal Baptist Church, Palmyra, TN
- In 2012, he was charged with 2 counts of rape on allegations he inappropriately had sexual contact with a 36-yr-old mentally challenged woman.
- In 2014, he entered a guilty plea to an amended count of sexual battery, a Class E felony, and agreed to three years of probation at 35 percent. Denton must register as a Tennessee Sex Offender for 10 years.
- The Leaf Chronicle stated on July 28, 2014, that Senior Pastor Ted Denny, Bethel Baptist Church, said that Denton remains a pastor there because he accepted the plea because he felt it was in the best interest for him and his family.
- As of 2/26/22, Denton is not listed as a staff member on their website. His position at the church was associate pastor and guitarist at Bethel Baptist Church, Palmyra, TN
- He was convicted in Montgomery County in 2014
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2018 – Courtney Michelle Bingham, youth leader, Bethany Baptist Church, Loudon, TN
- On December 11, 2018, Bingham admitted and was charged with “aggravated statutory rape and soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor.”
- Church youth leader charged for sexual relations with teen boy
2006 – 2008 Timothy Neal Byars, 44, minister of youth, education, and music, Springhill Baptist Church, Dyersburg, TN
- In 2006, Byars was arrested on charges of rape, sexual battery by an authority figure, and aggravated statutory rape (14 and 19-year-old sisters).
- Registered sex offender in Tennessee for rape and for an attempt to commit sexual battery – crimes that were reported in two different cities on two consecutive nights in November 2006.
- He served two years in prison.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- GUILTY: Byars sentenced to two years in prison
2015 – Luke A. Cooke, youth pastor, Baptist church unknown
- In 2007, Cooke was indicted on rape and aggravated sexual battery charges involving an 8-year-old and 16-year-old girls.
- The youth minister fled to China, Morocco, and Albania after being indicted on sex crimes charges in Shelby County, Tenn., in 2007.
- In 2015, he was returned to the US and convicted in Tennessee of “coercion or enticement of a minor” for having transported a juvenile with the intent of engaging in illegal sexual activity and sentenced to 138 months.
- He is serving out his sentence in federal prison.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2009 – Timothy Ronald Felts, youth pastor, North Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield, TN
- He was convicted of sexual battery in 2009 and listed as a sex offender.
- Convicted again in 2016 of three counts of aggravated statutory rape as well as attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor for offenses that occurred in 2015 and 2016.
- Serving a 14-year prison sentence in Tennessee and is on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2011 – Jonathan Tyler Giles, 24, youth minister, Spring Creek Baptist Church, Clarksville, TN
- Giles served as a youth pastor before his arrest in June 2009 on three counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, two counts of solicitation of minor and sexual battery by an authority figure involving three teenage girls who attended Spring Creek Baptist Church.
- He pleaded guilty in January 2011 in a plea bargain reached to keep victims from having to testify in court.
- He was sentenced to two years in prison and placed on a post-trial diversion allowing him to avoid jail time if he completed 240 hours of public service, lived with his parents out of town, and stayed in school.
- Sunday school worker charged with abuse
2019 – Benjamin N. Widrick, 24, of Syracuse, NY, Youth Minister Intern, Long Hollow Baptist Church
- Served as a 2018 summer intern at Long Hollow Baptist Church’s Gallatin campus where he engaged in sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl. He was arrested on 3 acts of statutory rape.
- In 2018, he was a 23-year-old Liberty University student majoring in pastoral leadership.
- The victim stated they had sexual intercourse once while at camp and twice when Widrick came back to Tennessee to visit her.
- He pleaded guilty. The plea agreement called for an effective five-year, Range I, probation sentence. As part of the plea agreement, the offenses were reduced to statutory rape, a Class E felony. The plea agreement reserved for the trial court the determination of whether the Widrick would be placed on the sex offender registry.
2016 – David Lee St. John, pastor, The Bible Truth Baptist Church, Bristol, TN
- In 2016, he pleaded guilty to six felony counts of aggravated sexual battery and three felony counts of rape of a child for activities with two girls under age 13 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison without chance of parole.
- The church dissolved after the pastor was arrested. Former Bristol, Tenn., official, pastor gets 30 years for sex crimes.
- Former Tennessee, official, pastor gets 30 years for sex crimes
2016 – Christopher Douglas Ross, youth pastor, Fairview Church, Lebanon, TN
- Ross pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure.
- He was convicted in 2016 and is serving a four-year sentence in Tennessee state prison
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
2017 – Tandy Eugene Roberts, former pastor, Faith Baptist Church, Santa Fe, TN
- In 2017, Roberts was arrested on charges of aggravated sexual battery by an authority figure regarding acts against a 12-year-old female in 2012.
- Robert is listed on the TBI Sex Offender Registry.
- Former Maury County pastor charged in 2012 sexual battery case
2007 – Richard Yates Quinn, 33, attended and graduated from Southern Seminary.
- He was a Registered Sex Offender in TN who lived on campus. His registry information says he was convicted of with a 14-yr-old girl.
- Convicted in TN of receiving photo of a minor engaged in a sexually explicit act.
2015 – Benjamin Ross Hollifield, outreach pastor, Piedmont Baptist Church, Kannapolis, NC
- He was arrested for sex offenses with a 13-year-old member of his church.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Kannapolis youth pastor charged with sex offenses against 13-year-old.
2017 – Matthew Dennis Patterson, pastor, Nolensville Road Baptist Church, Nashville, TN
- Patterson was indicted on eight counts of aggravated sexual battery. Each count is linked to a different child.
- Nashville pastor molested at least 8 children during 20 years as a church leader, police say
2018 – Jimmy Orick, pastor, Mountain View Independent Baptist Church, La Follette, TN
- He pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated statutory rape, three counts, of attempted statutory rape by an authority figure, and two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure.
1992 – Donald McCary, 48, minister of music and youth, Central Baptist Church, Hixon, TN
- He was sentenced to 72 years in prison for abusing 4 boys between the ages of 12 and 15 in 1989.
- In 1996, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction on the grounds that testimony from a man who claimed to have been molested by McCary as a child was permitted although the pastor was never charged with the crimes involving the witness.
- The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the conviction of Donald McCrary in one trial and reversed another conviction. He was given two other trials involving two different victims, and he was convicted in both cases. The appeals court upheld one jury’s findings, but in the second case said the state had not properly elected offenses to proceed on and that a prosecutor made improper statements to the jury
- Appeals Court Reverses Donald McCary Conviction, Upholds Another Case
2007 – Mark Woodson Mangrum, 47, former preacher, FBC, Parsons, TN
- He settled on a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to distributing porn to minors by computer, charged with sending email and instant messages while trying to entice him into committing oral sex, a 14-year-old boy in 2007
- He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2018 to 70 months in federal prison and 20 years supervised release for distributing child porn in order to “induce a minor to engage in sexual conduct.”
- Registered sex offender in Tennessee.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Gay-Sex Sting Operation Nabs Baptist Pastor
2010 – Chad Eugene Luttrell, volunteer at Vacation Bible School, First Baptist Church, Bemis, TN
- Registered sex offender after pleading guilty to a June 10, 2009, offense of sexual battery.
- Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
- Church sued for abuse that occurred at VBS
- Group wants former pastor at Bemis Baptist investigated
1998 – John Randy Leming, pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Sevierville, TN
- He pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape for oral sex with a 16-year-old congregant when he pastored Shiloh Baptist Church in Sevier County.
- He pleaded guilty in 1998 to the offenses that occurred in May and June 1994, when he was 31, and lost his appeal of the concurrent 18-month sentences he deemed harsh.
- Leming has served at Antioch Baptist Church since March 2014, according to the SBC Annual Church Profile.
- During its February 22-23, 2021, meeting, the SBC Executive Committee disfellowshipped Antioch Baptist Church for employing a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape.
2009 – Matthew Maurice Jernigan, church youth volunteer, Heartland Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, TN,
- In 2010, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 15 probation for sex abuse of boys. The abuse happened in 2009.
2009 – Randall T. Hollifield, youth volunteer, New Beverly Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN
- He was sentenced to the following: rape of a child (06/15/2011), especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor (06/15/2009), criminal attempt to commit aggravated sexual battery (03/10/2007)
- Hollifield is a Registered Sex Offender in Tennessee