Southern Baptist Pastor Abuse: David Pittman

In May of 2022, Guidepost Solutions released a 288-page report chronicling the child abuse perpetrated on children by employees of churches that are members of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Convention leaders then released a secret database of allegations against church employees that span decades.

Survivor David Pittman was raped and assaulted repeatedly by his church's music pastor from ages 12 to 15 in the 80s. The abuser was Pastor Frankie Wiley, and it started during all-boy sleepovers. David reported the abuse to police two decades later, but the statute of limitations expired. He reported the abuse to church leaders, and they told him to keep quiet and that they would pray for him.

Listen now.

Wiley did confess to assaulting five boys in an email to church leaders. However, he is still employed by a church in Georgia called Trinity Community Church, which has cut ties with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Southern Baptists make up the largest protestant denomination in the United States with more than 3,370 Southern Baptist churches in Georgia alone. Nationwide, Southern Baptist churches have 14 million members nationwide.

Resources for survivors:

Survivor-created websites: https://baptistaccountability.org/ and http://stopbaptistpredators.org/index.htm

Together We Heal: https://together-we-heal.org/

Ministry Watch: https://ministrywatch.com/

Together We Heal: https://together-we-heal.org/

Contact RAINN for 24/7 access to help: rainn.org 1-800-656-4673

Contact the Safeguarding Teams Initiative at GRACE: https://www.netgrace.org/

Sources:

The Houston Chronicle

Sexual Abuse Task Force

Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Shiela Poole

CBS News

Medium.com

SBC Voices

Follow our blog. 

Check out our social media pages:
Facebook Instagram Pinterest

Support #StillHere: A Survivor Podcast by contributing to their tip jar. 

Find out more at https://stillhere.pinecast.co Send us your feedback. 

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. 

Recorded by Nate Brown at Rocketskates Recording in SLC, Utah.