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(LifeSiteNews) — Survivors of sexual abuse in Protestant churches have unveiled a searchable database of abusers as well as officials who covered for them, highlighting more than 2,700 alleged offenders.
ProtestantAccountability.org is a Florida-based non-profit spearheaded by abuse survivors Chellee Taylor, Elisabeth Ingram, and Terry McKiernan, who founded the similar BishopAccountability.org.
The site “document[s] allegations of abuse, as well as individuals in a position of leadership who allegedly mishandled allegations of abuse within their organization,” based on court records, reports from government agencies, media investigations, and other preexisting databases. It covers the range of Christian denominations outside Catholicism, including Episcopal, Presbyterian, non-denominational, and more.
“Our organization exists to bring these matters into the light by collecting and organizing publicly available information concerning sexual abuse & misconduct in religious settings,” the group said in its press release. “We document allegations, investigations, legal proceedings, convictions, and documented efforts to conceal, enable, minimize or disregard abuse. By preserving these records, we seek to promote transparency, accountability, and the protection of those at risk.”
The site will continually be updated as more information and new culprits become known, and it takes pains to qualify its information with disclaimers that anyone not convicted in a court of law is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
“The Southern Baptist Convention moved toward building something similar,” Relevant Magazine notes. “Messengers at the SBC’s 2022 annual meeting voted overwhelmingly to create Ministry Check, a database of ministers convicted or credibly accused of abuse. The project stalled for years over legal concerns, and by last year SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said it was ‘not a focus.’”
The Catholic Church is still dealing with the fallout of revelations that church officials attempted to cover up decades’ worth of allegations of priests sexually abusing minors; ProtestantAccountability.org highlights how the crisis is by no means a Catholic-specific problem.
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