Six Oregon Men on SBC List of Baptist Sexual Abusers
Six Oregon men are on an official SBC list of accused Baptist sexual abusers. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) released a list naming over 700 men accused of sexually abusing or assaulting people in Baptist churches. Over 50 of the accused abusers were in western states, six of them in Oregon.
The SBC List of Baptist Abusers
The SBC refers to this as a list of “accused ministers.” However, it includes church staff and volunteers as well as clergy. SBC included accused abusers from any Baptist denomination, not only the Southern Baptist Convention. Of the 703 on the list, SBC said 409 were “believed to be SBC affiliated at some point in time.” SBC listed the others as affiliated with other Baptist denominations such as American Baptist, independent Baptist churches, or noted them as “Baptist Type Unknown.”
Of the six Oregon men on the list, one was SBC, five were listed as Baptist Type Unknown.
You can find a copy of the entire list of accused Baptist abusers here.
The SBC released the list as part of an independent investigation into how SBC leadership mishandled accusations of sexual abuse and assault. Forced by a vote of delegates to the 2021 annual convention, the SBC Executive Committee hired a company called Guidepost to investigate and write a report. Guidepost released its report in May 2022. SBC release its list of accused Baptist abusers along with the report.
You can read about the Guidepost report here.
The Six Oregon Men on SBC List
Most of the accused Baptist abusers were in the American South and Southeast, where the denomination is the strongest. But over 50 names on the list are men accused of sexual abuse or assault in connection with Baptist churches in Western states, including Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho, and Colorado. The six Oregon men on the SBC list and a brief summary of the accusations made against them are as follows.
Kenneth Leo Baker
In 2016, Kenneth Leo Baker, a pastor at the First Baptist Church in Ashland, OR, was arrested for sex with a minor girl. The abuse happened from 2006 to 2011, beginning when the girl was 13 years old.
Baker later pleaded guilty to two felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse and sexual penetration in the second degree. The court sentenced him to serve ten and a half years in prison and register as a sex offender. At his sentencing hearing, the Deputy District Attorney said Baker’s actions “profoundly affected” the victim because Baker was in a position of trust at First Baptist Church of Ashland.
First Baptist Church of Ashland is listed on the SBC list as Baptist Type Unknown.
Casey R. Dyck
Casey R. Dyck was from McMinnville, Oregon but working in Caldwell, Idaho when he sexually abused at least one minor girl. Dyck was a teacher at Centennial Baptist School. He sent sexual texts and photos to several underage girl students. He was convicted in July 2015 for sexual abuse of a teen girl.
We do not know when he moved from Oregon to Idaho. SBC lists Dyck as an Oregon abuser even though he was arrested in Idaho for abuse in Idaho.
The Centennial Baptist Church and School in Caldwell, Idaho is listed on the SBC list as Baptist Type Unknown.
Earl L. Fort
In 1987, Earl L. Fort was convicted of sexually abusing a child. He pleaded no contest to the criminal charges. Washington County Circuit Court Judge Gregory E. Milnes sentenced Fort to five years in prison and five years probation.
We have no details of the abuse or the criminal charges. The SBC list cites as its source a child protection advocacy blog called Child Advocated United. The SBC lists Fort’s Baptist affiliation as Type Unknown.
At the time of his conviction, Fort had retired from his last post as a pastor at Central Baptist Church in Forest Grove, Oregon. Prior to that, Fort served as a minister at Rose City Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon; Iola Missionary Baptist Church in Iola, Texas; Temple Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas; and Montgomery Baptist in Montgomery, Texas.
Fort died at age 92 in 2013. At the time of his death, he had been a member of the Crossing Baptist Church in Forest Grove, Oregon.
James Luttrell
In May 1987, James Luttrell was convicted of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse of a six-month-old boy. Luttrell was the former pastor of the Bible Baptist Church in Bend, Oregon. He also had been charged with molesting two girls, but those charges were dropped before trial.
The criminal trial was a judge trial, no jury. No doubt Lutrell thought a jury would not be sympathetic to a pastor accused of raping a baby. But Deschutes County Circuit Judge John Copenhaver heard the case and found Luttrell guilty of both charges. Judge Copenhaver sentenced Luttrell to ten years in prison. The judge also ordered as a condition of parole, that Luttrell pay for counseling for the victim’s mother and future counseling for the victim.
The SBC list identifies the Bible Baptist Church in Bend as Baptist Type Unknown.
According to news stories at the time, the abuse occurred in December 1985, and the trial was in May 1987. Prior to the trial, Luttrell had been living in Indianapolis, Indianna for a year. The Rev. Greg Dixon, pastor of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, publicly supported Luttrell throughout his criminal trial. Dixon came to Bend in July 1986 to organize a demonstration in support of Luttrell. He gathered a group of ministers on the steps of the Deschutes County courthouse to convene a “court of divine justice,” apparently in Luttrell’s favor. He also paid for Luttrell’s attorney and accompanied Luttrell to trial.
Dixon was also the Chairman of the American Coalition of Unregistered Churches (ACUC), a largely Baptist organization that advocated for greater church independence from government regulation. The Unregistered Baptist Fellowship (UBF) formed out of the ACUC. Neither organization appears to be currently active.
Redacted
The SBC list contains an entry for an Oregon man whose name is redacted. The SBC list states only that the undisclosed man was a Baptist pastor “arraigned on six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct” with a date of 2010. 2010 is likely the date the man was arrested or arraigned.
There is no information abut the date of the abuse, the nature of the abuse, or the victim(s).
The only other information is a note, “Was he convicted? Could not find.” The name of the church where the man was a pastor is also redacted. The source of the information is also redacted.
We have been unable to find additional information about this person.
Lee Philip Wiegand
Most recently, Lee Philip Wiegand, was convicted in 2018 on four felony counts for sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl in 2012. At the time of the abuse, Wiegand was a principal at the First Baptist School in Canby, Oregon. He was 57-58 years old.
The victim was a student at the school. During her senior year, she stayed at Wiegand’s home while she attended the small Baptist school. Wiegand’s wife had recently died and so had the victim’s grandfather. Wiegand used the situation to groom the girl and eventually have intercourse with her. He told her not to tell anyone about the sex.
In 2015, when the victim was in college, she realized that the “relationship” with Wiegand had been manipulative and abusive. She reported to an elder at the church that Wiegand had done things that made him unfit to be a pastor, but she didn’t disclose the abuse. In 2017, another victim came forward. At that time, the same elder connected the dots and understood that Wiegand had abused the first victim.
During sentencing, Clackamas County District Attorney Scott Healy told the court that he pursued the case, in part, because he found that there may be a third victim of abuse that happened in the late 1980s to early 1990s. The District Attorney’s investigators were not able to locate that victim.
The First Baptist Church of Canby is now called Grace Baptist Church. The SBC list identifies is as a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. However, the SBC list also describes the church as an affiliated member of the Conservative Baptist Association of America.
Not All Baptist Abusers Are on the SBC List
The SBC released its list of accused ministers. But it did not explain how it created this list. The information on the list is all available on the internet – nothing is internal information of the SBC’s. The list mostly includes men accused or convicted of abuse in the last 20 years. When abuse occurred earlier, like the two above that involve abuse in the 1980s, the list cites recent internet sources.
This means that the SBC list is not a complete list of Baptist leaders who sexually abuse minors or sexually assaulted adults. The SBC did not have access to or seek out court records across the country. The SBC did not search every newspaper archive for every story about Baptist leaders accused of sexual misconduct. Most tellingly, this list does not include internal reports of abuse to SBC leadership.
So if you were molested or assaulted by a Baptist leader and his name is not on the SBC list, do not be concerned. From what we know about other organizations, like the Boy Scouts and the Catholic Church, this SBC list is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
Options for Survivors of Baptist Sexual Abuse
If you or someone you know was abused by a Baptist pastor or other church leader, there may be options for seeking accountability. Depending on when the abuse happened, criminal or civil court cases may be available options.
Those options mostly depend on the time limits for criminal charges or filing a civil lawsuit. Oregon and other states have long – sometimes very long – deadlines for child sexual abuse and assault cases. Oregon recently changed the statute of limitations even for adult victims of sexual assault to extend the deadline for civil lawsuits.
However, when the deadlines run is very fact specific. The statutes of limitations depend on when the abuse happened, where it happened, and facts particular to each case. It is best to talk to an attorney to understand these deadlines.
Please contact us to answer questions or explain the possible options. You can contact us through our confidential contacts page or at 503-616-5007.