Southern Baptist churches are rarely the first party to report allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy to legal authorities, according to an analysis of news stories aggregated at a website maintained by an advocate for victims.

StopBaptistPredators.org links to news stories about 130 separate Southern Baptist clergy persons who were arrested, convicted or sued for sexual abuse of boys or girls over the last decade. Of those, six indicated that police were first made aware of allegations because of a pastor or other church leader’s report.

In light of the recent Penn State scandal, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler and Ethics and Religious Liberty head Richard Land have made public comments that it is imperative for Christians who suspect abuse to go immediately to the police.

Not all the news stories state how police became involved in an investigation. Most often it begins with a report from a victim, parent or other family member. Some reports were by school counselors. Seven of the arrests were made by officers posing as minors in on-line sting investigations.

In numerous stories the church first learned of allegations after a police investigation or arrest. Many fired or suspended the accused individual immediately, but a few rallied around a minister and ostracized his accusers.

Several high-profile SBC churches responded to credible accusations of sexual abuse by a staff member in ways contrary to what Land and Mohler now recommend.

–Bellevue Baptist Church near Memphis, Tenn., a prominent congregation long led by former two-time SBC president Adrian Rogers, became mired in a scandal in 2006 and 2007 when a blog reported that new pastor Steve Gaines knew about past sexual abuse by a staff member but kept it quiet.

An investigation by church leaders found that Paul Williams, a minister and staff member for 34 years, had sexually abused his adolescent son over a period of 12 to 18 months 17 years earlier. Williams was allowed to keep his job, which included counseling with adult victims of sexual abuse, until six months after he confessed to what Gaines originally described as a “moral failure.”

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