A graduate of Williams Baptist College and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Sam Nuckolls served on staff at several churches before entering fulltime itinerant ministry. LifeWay hired Nuckolls as a summer staffer to serve in the role of camp pastor for Centrifuge camps in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2007 his role changed to a contract position, where he served several weeks during the summer preaching at general assemblies and large gatherings. He served in that capacity through the summer of 2011.

The sentencing hearing for a former Southern Baptist evangelist convicted of video voyeurism offered a rare public glimpse into the emotional, marital and spiritual impact suffered by victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

Women secretly videotaped while showering or in front of a bathroom vanity in the home of a popular Southern Baptist evangelist compared the experience to rape, while young husbands described anger at being betrayed by a friend they considered a brother in ministry Sept. 14 in a courtroom in Hernando, Miss.

Sammy NuckollsSammy Nuckolls, 33, a former traveling evangelist popular at youth events including summer camps sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and more than $80,000 in fines and restitution after being found guilty on 13 counts of video voyeurism.

Nuckolls was arrested last October while staying in a private home in Gosnell, Ark., during a local church revival where he was preaching. His hostess discovered a hidden camera spy pen set up in a bathroom to photograph her as she prepared to shower.

Nuckolls gave a statement to police in Arkansas saying he had done the same thing with two women at his home in Olive Branch, Miss., and gave their names. Analyzing a laptop computer confiscated from Nuckolls’ house, investigators identified 14 different victims in video files. Additional investigations in Arkansas, Virginia and Texas raised the number of suspected or confessed victims to 21.

“I’m relieved and think that perhaps I can sleep at night again,” Amy V. Butler, a student at George W. Truett Theological Seminary and one of the women in the videos, said moments after Nuckolls was taken away from the DeSoto County courthouse in handcuffs.

Butler’s chief concern was not being confused with others with similar names in the close-knit network of churches and institutions that comprise the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. She said she knows of at least two other Amy Butlers who are part of the Baylor University community. One is a columnist for ABPnews. “V-i-o-l-e-t-t-e,” she spelled out her middle name.

Many people believe that sexual abuse by clergy is primarily a Catholic problem related to celibacy and homosexual priests. In recent years, however, ABPnews has reported with alarming regularity on criminal cases or civil lawsuits involving sexual misconduct by Baptist preachers.

Most involve minors and are settled out of court through plea bargains to spare victims the ordeal of testifying. Due to stigma surrounding sex crimes, most victims who talk to the media do so anonymously, believing identifying themselves would harm their reputation or the reputation of their family.

For those reasons, victim-impact statements at the daylong sentencing hearing for Nuckolls offered a rare glimpse into the emotional, relational and spiritual scars left on people victimized for the sexual gratification of clergy.

When wolves wear shepherd’s clothing

The last school year has been tough for Amy Violette Butler, who first met Nuckolls during training for a staff position at a LifeWay Christian Resources Centrifuge youth camp when Nuckolls was camp pastor.

One day she walked out of a class on friendship evangelism when a discussion of the importance of gaining trust of individuals in order to make them more receptive to the gospel reminded her of how Nuckolls had manipulated her.

During study abroad on the travels of Paul, she was frightened by a Greek man who zoomed in on her while shooting video of the group. She tried to move away and he followed, oblivious to her protests that she didn’t like to be filmed by strange men because he did not speak English.

Butler said the last year also has been a struggle with regard to her calling as a minister. “I don’t know if I want to complete my degree,” she testified in court. “I don’t know if I want to be in ministry anymore.”

Butler said later in an interview that one thing that has helped her get through the ordeal is the support she has received from her professors and others at Truett. “I don’t think I could have testified today without the support of my professors and people at Baylor,” she said.

She recommended in particular a groundbreaking study about helping women survive clergy sexual abuse by Diana Garland, dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work. “When Wolves Wear Shepherd’s Clothing” appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of the journal Social Work and Christianity.

“It’s an abuse of power,” Butler said of sexual misconduct by ministers. Despite her doubts, she said, in the end her struggles make her want to be a pastor more than ever. “I want to be the kind of pastor that helps people, not hurts people.”

Most news organizations have policies against identifying victims of sexual assault or child sexual abuse unless they want to be named. Butler volunteered to speak on the record to Associated Baptist Press.

Other victims testified in court using their real names but did not talk to media. ABPnews doesn’t normally use anonymous sources, but for the purpose of this story will use only first names of other victims out of respect for their privacy.

‘Evil eyes’

Video was shown of Nuckolls concealing a camera in a bathroom closet and checking and adjusting the angle for the best view. One victim said those images were more disturbing than the pictures of her.

“Those eyes were so evil,” said 26-year-old Joy, who first met Nuckolls when she was a sophomore in college in 2005, and was her future husband’s youth pastor. She said the video was taken just before Nuckolls officiated the couple’s wedding.

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