Southern Baptist leader aimed to 'break down' alleged rape victim, board chairman says

June 02--A Southern Baptist luminary wanted to "break down" a woman who was reporting a rape in 2015, according to a statement released Friday by Kevin Ueckert, chairman of the board of trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The trustees pushed Paige Patterson, former president of the seminary, to president emeritus on May 23 after his comments on abused women circulated, along with a 2003 Washington Post story in which a woman at his former seminary said he persuaded her not to report her rape to police.

Patterson was fired entirely on May 30.

The trustees' statement after the May 23 meeting said "evidence existed" that Patterson reported sexual assault allegations to law enforcement. After questions from the Star-Telegram, chairman of the board Kevin Ueckert said the report was about a 2015 allegation from a female Southwestern student, and the police got involved.

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The latest statement from June 1 says Patterson sent an email to the seminary security chief aiming to get the student alone to "break her down" and preferred that no officials be there. The statement condemned the correlation between that incident and the 2003 one.

The executive committee also reviewed the record of the student from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Megan Lively, who was quoted anonymously in the The Washington Post piece and has since gone public.

The information they learned "contradicts a statement previously provided by Dr. Patterson in response to a direct question by a Board member."

The board voted unanimously to terminate Patterson.

Anyone with more information should contact reporter Sarah Smith at ssmith@star-telegram.com

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