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.
The Southern Baptists had pretty rampant sexual abuse. It was happening at quite a few churches and victims asked nicely to maybe make a list so other churches would know not to hire the rapists. The church declined saying that Baptist churches are decentralized and there is no central structure to do that. In reality they had been keeping track of perverts for decades and shuffling them around when they inevitably got in trouble again.
Also, the Southern Baptists only exist because they were cool with slavery. Fuck them.