By Michael Gryboski, Editor
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and its Executive Committee have been named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit against a South Carolina church whose leaders have been criminally charged for allowing a convicted sex offender to volunteer near children for years.
The complaint was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, brought by a John Doe and Jane Doe who had a child “entrusted to Defendants’ care.”
Pawleys Island Community Church, which cooperates with the SBC, has been under investigation over allegations that leadership allowed convicted sex offender Warren Spencer Perry to serve as a volunteer custodian in the vicinity of children even after concerns were raised.
In addition to the SBC and the SBC Executive Committee, defendants named in the litigation include the church; Pawleys Island Christian Academy; Pawleys Island Senior Pastor Donald James Williams; church employee and leader Virginia Lee Williams; Academy Director Jennifer Howard; John Doe church elders 1-10; and Perry.
The complaint is being brought “on behalf of all persons who paid tuition or mandatory enrollment fees to Pawleys Island Christian Academy for a child who attended the Academy when Warren Spencer Perry was authorized or permitted by the Institutional Defendants to work, volunteer, perform custodial or maintenance services, or otherwise be present on the Church or Academy campus during school hours or Academy-sponsored activities.”
“This action does not require this Court to resolve any question of religious doctrine,” the complaint reads, in part. “It asks only that Defendants be held to the same secular principles of law governing the operation of childcare and educational facilities, the supervision of known dangers, the truthfulness of safety representations made to parents, and the discharge of governmental supervision duties that apply to every other institution and agency.”
The Christian Post reached out to the SBC for this story. A spokesperson emailed a brief statement from SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg.
“The Southern Baptist Convention does not comment on ongoing litigation. When we are officially notified of the filing, we will review it and respond appropriately,” Iorg stated.
The lawsuit states that the church was formerly known as Pawleys Island Baptist Church “and is an independent, self-governing, elder-led congregation not subject to the control of a parent denomination or hierarchical body.” The filing also states that the church is “a cooperating church with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, a state convention that is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.”
The SBC is a cooperative association of autonomous churches and is not a hierarchical denomination in the same way that the Catholic Church or other Protestant bodies operate. Each church is self-governed, and the SBC does not appoint pastors or staff members for churches, nor does it dictate decisions made at the local church level. State Baptist conventions are also autonomous organizations that cooperate with the SBC. The SBC doesn’t dictate decisions made by state conventions.
The SBC has in the past removed churches from membership based on their responses to SBC Credentials Committee investigations into sexual abuse allegations.
“Sexual abuse is a serious and real problem,” Iorg said after the removal of seven churches last year. “And when it happens, it is devastating for the survivors, the church, the community, and every person who is involved.”
“Every church must make every reasonable effort to prevent sexual abuse and respond proactively when it happens,” he added. “We are committed to these standards at the Executive Committee: no tolerance for abuse, and every church a safe place for the vulnerable.”
The church and its academy also face a $25 million class-action suit filed in state court last month on behalf of all students who attended in the past six years.
Last month, Perry was arrested by Georgetown County police after an investigation found he was violating his probation by volunteering at the church’s academy.
Perry, a 70-year-old resident of Murrells Inlet, was given probation in 2023 after being convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor, a crime he committed in 2020.
The church faced backlash for knowingly employing Perry. Donald Williams, his wife Virginia Williams, and Howard all resigned from their leadership positions.
Last week, the sheriff’s office announced that all of the church officials who had resigned were charged with “Criminal Conspiracy and Obstruction,” with the pastor also charged with “Unlawfully Placing a Child at Risk or Causing a Child Harm.”
Additionally, local authorities arrested Michael Anthony Fields, director of Operations and Missions at the church, charging him with “Unlawfully Placing a Child at Risk or Causing a Child Harm.”
“The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office is in the third week of its investigation into how church leadership allowed convicted sex offender Warren Perry to volunteer on campus in close proximity to children for years,” authorities stated following Fields’ arrest.
“As the investigation has widened, partners from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center, the Children’s Recovery Center, the Attorney General’s Office, the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS), and the SC Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole have all been instrumental in moving different facets forward.”