RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Southern Baptist church leaders this week released a previously confidential list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse. Ten names on the list are associated with Virginia.
The 205-page database includes more than 700 entries from cases that mostly span from 2000 to 2019. The existence of the database became widely known on Sunday when Guidepost Solutions, an independent investigation firm, released a report detailing the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee’s mishandling of sex abuse allegations.
Jeffrey Clark
In 2015, Jeffrey Dale Clark, former director of youth at Immanuel Baptist Church in Colonial Heights, was arrested and convicted of six felony counts. His charges included four counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of indecent liberties with a child. He was sentenced to 25 years in a plea agreement that spared a victim from testifying. He is currently incarcerated in Virginia.
Dennis Collins
In 2010, Dennis Ray Collins, former youth minister and volunteer baseball coach at Thalia Lynn Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, plead guilty. He was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a teen that occurred in the mid-1980s at a Virginia Beach high school. He received five years in jail and 20 years of probation.
Jack Duffer
In 2010, Jeremy “Jack” Duffer, former youth pastor at Seaford Baptist Church near Hampton and Newport News, was sentenced on eight counts of aggravated sexual battery with a minor and one count of indecent acts with a child. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison and remains incarcerated in Virginia.
Jason Bolton
In 2010, Jason Roy Bolton, 32, former youth pastor of Potomac Crest Baptist Church in Prince William County, was arrested on charges of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in his church. In 2011, he plead guilty to taking indecent liberties with a minor. He was sentenced to three years in jail with all three years suspended and two years of supervised probation. He was arrested again and charged with stalking just weeks after being sentenced as a sex offender, according to Potomac Local News.
Christopher Hogge
In 2017, Christopher Alan Hogge, former pastor at Battery Park Baptist Church in Isle of Wight County, pleaded guilty to 19 child pornography charges. He is currently incarcerated and serving his 16-year sentence in Virginia.
Joshua Moon
In 2010, Joshua Young Moon, a former professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, was convicted of aggravated sexual battery against a female student. He was sentenced to five years of jail time with four years and six months suspended. He has been on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry since 2010. Moon is included on the list because Liberty University and Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia are in partnership, according to the database and the Baptist Press.
Kenneth Payne
In 2006, Kenneth Payne, 70, former pastor of New Prospect Baptist in Amherst County, was found guilty of indecent liberties and sodomizing a 17-year-old boy. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with all five years suspended, and 10 years probation. He was listed as a registered sex offender and died in 2017.
Joseph Shrewsbury
In 2007, Joseph Steven Shrewsbury, 30, former church youth coordinator at Shady Grove Baptist Church in Bedford County, plead guilty to 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of carnal knowledge for molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2005, who came to him seeking spiritual help. Shrewsbury was sentenced to 20 years with four years and six months suspended. According to the Virginia Sex Offender Registry, he is currently out of prison and on probation.
Daniel Silverman
In 2008, Daniel Louis Silverman, former pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Roanoke County, plead no contest, maintaining his innocence regarding allegations of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. He was sentenced to seven years in prison with five and half years suspended. He was released after serving his 18 months and spent five years on probation.
Robert Dando
In 2010, Robert John Dando, former minister to several Baptist churches in England plead guilty to four counts of sexual battery involving two American boys under the age of 13. He was arrested in Oakton, Virginia, on July 24, 2010, after sexually molesting the young sons of family friends while visiting from the U.K., according to a report from Baptist News. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in Fairfax County Circuit Court in 2011. In May 2017, police in the U.K. notified ICE that Dando was wanted for multiple charges including rape and sexual assault of boys in England and Wales between 1985 and 2008. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Aug. 16, 2017, that upon his release from a Virginia prison, Dando would be deported to the U.K. to be tried for his crimes. In 2018, he admitted to 13 sexual offenses involving 10 victims and was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison, according to a report from the BBC.
A hotline is now open for survivors, or someone on their behalf, to report abuse allegations. Call 202-864-5578 or email SBChotline@guidepostsolutions.com. Callers will be provided with care options and connected with an advocate, the statement said. Guidepost will maintain the hotline and keep the information confidential, but will not be looking into the allegations.
The full list released by Southern Baptist Convention can be found here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.