HOUSTON– Paul Pressler, a leading figure in the Southern Baptist Convention who was accused of sexually abusing boys and young men and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations, has died. He was 94.
Pressler’s death, which occurred on June 7, was announced in an obituary posted online by Geo. H. Lewis and Sons Funeral Home in Houston. A funeral service for Pressler was held Saturday. A cause of death was not announced.
The news of Pressler’s death was the first reported by Baptist News Global.
Pressler was one of the co-architects of the Southern Baptist Convention’s “conservative revival,” an effort in the 1980s that reshaped the direction of America’s largest Protestant denomination. Pressler and others pushed out more liberal leaders, helped forge an alliance between white evangelicals and Republican conservatism and focused on electing GOP candidates to public office.
The Southern Baptist Convention has more than 47,000 churches, with a total membership of nearly 13 million people, according to its website. As many as 200 are counted as “megachurches,” but the vast majority have fewer than 200 people worshiping weekly. Most churches are located in the southern US. The denomination’s executive committee is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a 2015 video in which he endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz during his failed presidential bid, Pressler said he has dedicated his life “to the conservative principles on which our country was founded.”
“I think people are genuinely angry about the directions in Washington. I believe that if we don’t have good people in Washington, we will not save our nation,” Pressler said.
But Pressler’s religious legacy was tarnished after he was accused of sexual assault by a former aide, Gareld Duane Rollins. In a lawsuit filed in 2017 in Harris County, where Houston is located, Rollins alleged that Pressler raped him when he was 14 years old after the two met in a Bible study group led by Pressler, according to court records. Rollins alleged that Pressler continued to sexually abuse him periodically over the next 24 years.
The Associated Press does not usually name victims who allege sexual assault or abuse, but Rollins and his attorneys have publicly identified him in court documents.
Rollins also sued the Southern Baptist Convention and others who he alleged covered up or enabled Pressler’s conduct. As part of the lawsuit, at least seven other men also came forward with their own allegations of sexual abuse against Pressler.
Rollins’ claims prompted a major investigation by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News of sexual abuse allegations in the Southern Baptist Convention. The series of stories revealed that top leaders had ignored or downplayed warnings of a sexual abuse crisis within the Protestant denomination, leading to significant reforms.
In December, Pressler, the Southern Baptist Convention and others reached a confidential agreement to settle the lawsuit.
Pressler denied the allegations against him and was never criminally charged.
The Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting last week, but did not appear to acknowledge Pressler’s death during the event. A spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention did not immediately return an email seeking comment Sunday.
Pressler also served in the Texas House, representing the Houston area, in the late 1950s. In 1970 he was appointed district judge. Eight years later, he was appointed a judge at the Court of Appeal and served in that position until his retirement in 1993, according to his obituary posted online.