Ten Louisiana ministers identified in Southern Baptist Convention's list of accused abusers
Ten Louisiana ministers, of the 13 or more included on the Southern Baptist Convention's list of ministers accused of abuse, were identified by name in the report, which was released Thursday night after more than a decade of being kept under wraps.
Thirteen ministers included in the list have Louisiana listed as their state, 10 of whom were identified by name and church. There may be additional ministers from Louisiana on the list, but information for many was redacted.
According to the database, the 13 from Louisiana were reported between 2001 and 2017. The list includes alleged abuse from 2007 through 2022, though it is incomplete and "has not been adequately researched," according to a note at the top of the report.
It appears that some Louisiana ministers who have faced charges are not listed in the report, though their information could be redacted.
From The Tennessean: Southern Baptist Convention leaders publish long-secret list of accused ministers
From two years ago: Louisiana included in report detailing widespread sex abuse among Southern Baptist leaders, volunteers
The list included names of 10 of the 13 Louisiana ministers.
Jonathan Michael Bailey
Jonathan Michael Bailey, 40, was previously a youth pastor at First Baptist Church New Orleans in Lakeview. He was arrested in 2015 and pleaded guilty in Orleans Parish to six counts of molestation, five counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of obstruction of justice, according to NOLA.com. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He then pleaded guilty in 2019 to two counts of sexual battery of a child under the age of 15 in Mississippi, according to WLOX, where he was sentenced to 23 additional years in prison there once his Louisiana sentence is served.
Once he is released from prison, Bailey will have to register as a sex offender.
Jason J.D. Cooper
Jason J.D. Cooper, 40, was formerly a pastor at Macedonia Baptist Church in Rayville, according to court documents. He was convicted in 2009, alongside his stepbrother Victor Mitchell, for indecent behavior with a juvenile and oral sexual battery stemming from two 2007 oral sex acts with two teenage boys, court records show.
He was sentenced to five years of hard labor in 2009 and is currently a registered sex offender living in Rayville.
The Advertiser attempted to get comment from Cooper but was unsuccessful.
Angelo "Doogie" Golatt
Angelo 'Doogie' Golatt, 39, was formerly a youth leader at Donahue Family Church in Pineville, and a youth pastor at Buhl's Calvary Assembly of God in Idaho.
Golatt pleaded guilty in March 2012 to four counts of forcible rape, which resulted in a 40-year prison sentence. One victim told investigators that Golatt had sexually molested him at least 50 times over four years, starting when he was 12, according to a report from the Town Talk in Alexandria.
He is currently being held in the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, Louisiana.
James Robert Griffin
James Robert Griffin, 82, is a former volunteer associate pastor for Immanuel Baptist Church and a volunteer at Grace Memorial Baptist Church, both in Slidell, according to the SBC.
He was convicted in 2009 of aggravated incest and pornography involving juveniles and was released in 2015. He is a registered sex offender but is listed as non-compliant in Louisiana's sex offender registry for moving without notification.
The Advertiser attempted to get a comment from Griffin but was unsuccessful.
Bryan Keith Johnson
Bryan Keith Johnson, 55, is a former pastor at Vineyard Ministries in Westwego and Greater Cypress Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Algiers, according to the SBC. He pleaded guilty in 2016 to carnal knowledge of a juvenile and was sentenced to six years in prison, according to WWL.
He was released from prison in March 2022 and is a registered sex offender living in Marrero.
The Advertiser attempted to get a comment from Johnson but was unsuccessful.
Michael Phillip Latham
Michael Phillip Latham, 55, is a former Baptist camp director for the Glorieta Conference Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and former director of the Harris Baptist Conference Center in Bienville, according to KSLA.
He pleaded guilty in 2012 to a federal charge of attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor and was sentenced to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release, according to court documents.
He is a registered sex offender living in Lake Charles.
The Advertiser attempted to get a comment from Latham but was unsuccessful.
Holland Farrell McMorris
The SBC report says Holland Farrell McMorris, 75, was a pastor at Paradise Baptist Church in Ball and is serving a 25-year sentence for four counts of crimes of violation against a child.
The Associated Press reported in 2011 that McMorris pleaded guilty to four of the 473 sex crimes he was charged with. The charges he pleaded guilty to were aggravated incest, attempted aggravated rape, molestation of a juvenile and sexual battery, according to the AP report.
He is currently imprisoned at David Wade Correctional Center in Homer.
Victor Lamar Mitchell
Victor Lamar Mitchell, 37, was sentenced in 2009, alongside his step-brother Jason Cooper, to five years hard labor for one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of oral sexual battery, court documents show.
Mitchell was the pastor at Old Mount Olive Baptist Church in Oak Ridge. The incidents took place in 2007, when the pair engaged in two oral sex acts with two teenage boys, according to court documents.
He is a registered sex offender currently living in Winnsboro.
The Advertiser attempted to get a comment from Mitchell but was unsuccessful.
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Sherman Smith
Sherman R. Smith, 62, was a pastor at Bibleway Missionary Baptist Church in New Orleans and Second Highway Baptist Church in Marrero, according to the SBC report. NOLA.com reported that Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and eight other sexual assaults.
NOLA.com reported that the assaults took place from 1992 to 2000. The SBC report says some of the crimes dated back to 1989, and that some of the abuse took place during sleepovers at Smith's house.
Smith was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to NOLA.com.
Robert James Washington Jr.
According to the SBC report, Robert James Washington Jr., 46, was a church van driver for New Beginnings Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in Shreveport. He pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping charges in 2012.
KSLA News 12 in Shreveport reported that the incident occurred in 2010. KSLA reported that police said Washington offered a 15-year-old boy a ride to school but instead took him to the church. At the church, Washington took the boy into the pastor's office and demanded sex, according to KSLA's reporting.
Washington was sentenced to 40 years in prison at hard labor for the one count of forcible rape and 40 years in prison at hard labor for the one count of second-degree kidnapping, according to KTBS in Shreveport.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Ten Louisiana pastors identified in Southern Baptist accused abusers
