PAUL PRESSLER, DISGRACED CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE LEADER, DIES AT 94.(PHOTO).

 

Paul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader, Dies at 94

A former judge, he helped steer the Southern Baptist Convention to the right. But at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse.

ACCORDING TO ANOTHER SOURCE: 

Speaker Mike Johnson-Linked Ex-Southern Baptist Convention Leader Who Settled Molestation Lawsuit Dies At Age 92

The Texas Tribune reports:

Paul Pressler, the monumental Southern Baptist leader and Republican activist at the center of a massive sex abuse scandal, died on June 7. He was 94. Pressler was one of the most influential, if lesser-known, evangelical figures of the last half-century, having co-led a movement in the Southern Baptist Convention that pushed the nation’s second-largest faith group to adopt literal interpretations of the Bible, strongly condemn homosexuality and more closely align with the Republican Party.

His death came barely six months after he confidentially settled a high-profile lawsuit with a former member of his youth group who accused him of decades of rape. As part of the suit, at least six other men came forward alleging that they were abused or solicited for sex by Pressler in a string of incidents dating from 1978 to 2016. Pressler denied the allegations and was never criminally charged.

In August 2007, Louisiana College (now named Louisiana Christian University) announced plans to open a law school, the first in the state to be located outside the capital, Baton Rouge, or the largest city, New Orleans. The law school was named after Judge Paul Pressler, one of the principal architects of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. Pressler was on hand for the announcement and asserted the need was great for a Christian-based law school.

Mike Johnson served for some time as a senior legal counsel and spokesman for ADF — until, that is, September 2010 when he was named dean of the forthcoming Pressler School of Law. But the Pressler School of Law never opened its doors. In December 2011, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed LC on warning status for significant non-compliance with multiple standards of accreditation. Seeing the writing on the wall, Johnson resigned as dean in August 2012.

In March 2023, the notorious anti-LGBTQ activist Jared Woodfill testified under oath that he knew about the allegations against Pressler and said nothing.