Two Tennessee residents in active ministry on Southern Baptist Convention list of accused abusers

Katherine Burgess and Liam Adams, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·13 min read
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Two Tennessee residents still involved in ministry are on a list containing the names of ministers accused of sexual misconduct, which Southern Baptist Convention leaders previously maintained in secret.

Among other names with Tennessee connections, at least eight are incarcerated, five are on probation, two are deceased and four have served their prison sentences.

The existence of the list was among the findings from a historic report from Guidepost Solutions about SBC leaders' handling of a sexual abuse crisis over the past two decades within the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

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The investigation specifically looked at the SBC Executive Committee, which manages denomination business outside the SBC annual meeting. The list was maintained by a few executive committee staff, who were also the same individuals telling abuse survivors the SBC could not establish a centralized abuser database.

A USA Today Network - Tennessee analysis of the 35-plus entries on the list was able to identify seven of list's redacted entries who had Tennessee connections.

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SBC leaders release list of ministers: Southern Baptist Convention leaders publish long-secret list of accused ministers

One of those redacted entries was the case of Robin Beets who preaches at the SBC-affiliated Churchwell Avenue Baptist Church in Knoxville.

The other man remaining in ministry is more well-known: Andy Savage. His case drew national and global attention in 2018 when Jules Woodson described her story of being assaulted by Savage while she was a 17-year-old high school senior at Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church in suburban Houston and he was her 22-year-old youth pastor.

When Woodson went public, Savage was a teaching pastor at Highpoint Christian Church, a Memphis church that has since left the Southern Baptist Convention. When Savage first addressed the case before the Highpoint congregation, admitting to a "sexual incident," he received a standing ovation. Savage would go on to resign from Highpoint, then in 2019 launched Grace Valley Church, which he pastors in Collierville.

A grand jury in 2009 indicted Beets on aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping charges. Beets ultimately pleaded guilty in 2011 to an aggravated assault charge and avoided jail.

In addition to Beets and Savage, here are the former ministers on the executive committee's list with Tennessee connections:

Names with Tennessee connections

  • Mark Curtis Adams, who was a deacon and youth teacher at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Mount Carmel, pleaded guilty to using a social media appto induce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. He is now incarcerated at FCI Ashland, scheduled to be released Dec. 9, 2025.

  • Larry Michael Berkley, who was a pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas, and former pastor at Victory Baptist Church in Henning, Tennessee,was convicted of 16 crimes, including four counts of aggravated statutory rape and four counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. He was sentenced to 33 years and registered as a sex offender. Today, he is incarcerated in the Turner Center Industrial Prison, with a release date of Dec. 2, 2047.

  • Courtney Michelle Bingham was youth leader at Bethany Baptist Church in Loudon, Tennessee, who pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated statutory rape and one count of solicitation of a minor to commit statutory rape by an authority figure. Today, she is at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, with a release date of Jan. 24, 2032.

  • Matthew William Brewer was a minister of students at Fairfield Baptist Church in Hickman County when he was arrested in 2021 in Maury County for solicitation of a minor as part of an undercover operation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Brewer's name was redacted on the executive committee's list. It is unclear the outcome of the case.

  • Timothy Neal Byars was minister of youth, education and music at Springhill Baptist Church in Dyersburg. He became a registered sex offender in Tennessee for rape and for an attempt to commit sexual battery, crimes that were reported in two different cities on two consecutive nights in November 2006. He served two years in prison and now lives in Dyersburg. He was charged with violating the sex offender registry in 2020 and 2018 as well as a violation of communication supervision in 2018.

  • Christopher Carwile, a former youth pastor, was accused by three men of sexually assaulting them in the 1990s at Immanuel Baptist Church in Collierville. They did not prosecute because the statute of limitations had expired.

  • Luke A. Cooke was a youth pastor in 2007 when he was indicted on rape and aggravated sexual battery charges and sentenced to 138 months in federal prison for coercion or enticement of a minor. He is currently incarcerated at FCI Jessup with a release date of May 5, 2025.

  • Christopher Ryan Crossno was a Sunday school teacher and volunteer at Spring Creek Baptist Church in Clarksville when he pleaded guilty to sexual battery for inappropriate contact with a 6-year-old girl in 2012. In 2015, he received a three year suspended sentence. He remains on the sex offender registry and continues to live in Clarksville.

  • Gregory Stanley Dempsey was former minister of music at Oak Street Baptist Church in Soddy-Daisy. In 2006, he was pastor of Middle Valley Methodist Church when he confessed to allegations and was charged with three counts of statutory rape and three counts of sexual battery for abusing a 16-year-old boy in 2003, at Oak Street. He was convicted of sexual battery by an authority figure and remains on the sex offender registry, living in Chattanooga.

  • Charles Alan "Chuck" Denton was a retired police sergeant and associate pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Palmyra who pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual battery in 2014, becoming a registered sex offender in Tennessee. At the time of his plea deal, he was still on staff at the church, according to the Leaf Chronicle. He no longer appears on a list of the church's staff and has completed his probation.

  • Timothy Ronald Felts, a former youth pastor at North Springfield Baptist Church, was convicted of sexual battery in 2009 and later, in 2016, of three counts of aggravated statutory rape and attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. At the time of his 2016 arrest, authorities said his victim was a 16-year old girl. Felts is on the Tennessee sex offender database and is currently serving a 14-year sentence in Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility.

  • Jonathan Tyler Giles was a youth pastor at Spring Creek Baptist Church in Clarksville before his arrest in 2009 on three counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, two counts of solicitation of a minor and sexual battery by an authority figure involving three teenage girls who attended the church. Giles pleaded guilty in January 2011 in a plea bargain reached to keep victims from having to testify in court. He was sentenced to two years in prison and placed on a post-trial diversion allowing him to avoid jail time if he completed 240 hours of public service, lived with his parents out of town and stayed in school.

  • Steven C. Haney, who pastored Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Cordova for about 20 years, pleaded guilty in 2009 to rape and sexual battery by an authority figure after he was charged with sexually abusing two teenage boys, according to Commercial Appeal archives. Today, he is on probation, on the Tennessee sex offender registry and continues to live in Cordova.

  • Randall T. Hollifield was a youth volunteer at New Beverly Baptist Church in Knoxville before he was sentenced to the rape of a child, especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and criminal attempt to commit aggravated sexual battery. He is incarcerated at Southcentral Correctional Central, with a sentence end date of June 18, 2060.

  • Matthew Maurice Jernigan, a church youth volunteer at Heartland Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, pleaded guilty in 2010 to reduced charges of three counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of attempted sexual battery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 15 years of probation. Heartland Baptist is listed in the Executive Committee list as "Baptist type unknown." Jernigan is incarcerated at Turney Industrial Complex with a sentence end date of September 27, 2022.

  • Jack Law was a Baptist minister in Nashville in 1987 when he was accused of molesting and raping three sisters during church outings and visits, once raping a 5-year-old girl under a church pew. He was also accused of molesting and raping the sisters at their family's home and during an outing arranged to help him distribute religious tracts. The girls had tried to tell their parents, but were not believed. Law killed himself in July 1987 when facing trial for abusing the three sisters. His name was redacted on the executive committee's list.

  • John Randy Leming was a pastor at Antioch Baptist Church in Sevierville who pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape for oral sex with a 16-year-old congregant when he pastored Shiloh Baptist Church in Sevier County. He pleaded guilty in 1998 to the offenses that occurred in May and June 1994. During its February 22-23, 2021, meeting, the SBC Executive Committee disfellowshipped Antioch Baptist Church, Sevierville, for employing a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape. The USA Today Network-Tennessee could not find where Leming is now and he does not appear in the sex offender registry.

  • Daniel J. Lowhorn was a youth pastor at Midway Baptist Church in Putnam County who was charged with two counts of solicitation of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, 27 counts of exploitation of a minor by electronic means, five counts of solicitation of a minor for aggravated statutory rape and solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means. It is unclear the outcome of the case.

  • Chad Eugene Luttrell was a volunteer at a Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church in Bemis. He pleaded guilty to a 2009 offense of sexual battery. Today, he is on probation, with an end date of Sept. 16, 2022.

  • Mark Woodson Mangrum, former pastor of First Baptist Church Parsons, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2018 to 70 months in federal prison and 20 years supervised release for distributing child porn in 2007 order to induce a minor to engage in sexual conduct. He remains on the Tennessee sex offender registry and lives in Darden, Henderson County.

  • Donald McCary was minister of music and youth at Central Baptist Church in Hixson. In 1992, he was sentenced to 72 years in prison for abusing four boys ages 12-15 in 1989, a case that was later reversed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. He was later convicted in two other trials involving two different victims. The appeals court upheld one jury's findings, but overturned the second. He was ultimately charged with multiple counts of rape and aggravated sexual battery, serving a 36-year sentence that ended in 2016. He remains on the sex offender registry, living in Ooltewah in Hamilton County.

  • Daniel J. Moore was pastor of New Whiteland Baptist Church in Franklin. In 2010, he was convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor and other charges and sentenced to 10 years. He later was paroled and is now a registered sex offender living in Indiana.

  • Jimmy Orick was pastor of Mountain View Independent Baptist Church in LaFollette. He was charged with aggravated statutory rape, sexual battery by an authority figure and statutory rape by an authority figure, offenses that occurred in 2016. He is on probation until Feb. 18, 2023, remaining on the sex offender registry and living in Jacksboro in Campbell County.

  • Matthew Dennis Patterson was pastor of Nolensville Road Baptist Church in Nashville in 2018 he was indicted on eight counts of aggravated sexual battery, with police saying he molested at least eight children during his 20 years as leader of the church. The church is an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church. Patterson was convicted of multiple counts of aggravated sexual battery and is incarcerated at the Northwest Correctional Complex until 2043.

  • Heath Tyler Ransom, a youth minister convicted in Madison County, is listed as a sex offender for a 2017 conviction of criminal attempt to commit solicitation of a minor. He is on probation until March 21, 2025.

  • Robert Riley faced charges of disorderly conduct and indecent exposure after law enforcement arrested him in 2007 as part of a "sex sting operation." Riley was among 40 men who solicited sex from other men along a trail near a growth of underbrush nicknamed the "Man Cave," according to media reports. Riley was a pastor at Rogersville First Baptist Church, and stepped down after his arrest. Riley was one of the redacted names on the executive committee's list. It's unclear if Riley was ever convicted.

  • Tandy Eugene Roberts faced a charge in 2017 for aggravated sexual battery after he inappropriately touched a 12-year-old girl in 2012, according to a media report. Roberts was a pastor in Maury County. Roberts served a prison sentence of six months before he died in 2018.

  • Christopher D. Ross pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure in 2016 after he faced 10 counts of statutory rape by an authority figure for his actions as pastor at Fairview Church in Lebanon. Ross served a four-year prison sentence and is a registered sex offender.

  • David Rowan was indicted in 2018 for unlawful sexual contact and sexual battery of two teenage sisters while he was a guest speaker at a Murfreesboro church. Rowan was facing a trial last December in Rutherford County when Murfreesboro police found Rowan dead from an "apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound." Rowan was one of the redacted names on the executive committee list.

  • Demacrus Smith served a prison sentence starting in 2016 for soliciting and receiving sexual images of a minor. Smith, no longer in prison, is a registered sex offender, and was pastor Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church.

  • David Lee St. John pleaded guilty to six felony counts of aggravated sexual battery and three felony counts of rape of a child in 2019, according to media reports. St. John was a pastor at Bible Truth Baptist Church in Bristol, which dissolved after St. John was charged. St. John is currently serving a sentence at Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility until 2046.

  • Benjamin Widrick, who was a 2018 summer intern at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, pleaded guilty to three counts of statutory rape in 2021. Widrick is on probation until July 2025.

  • Paul Williams was an assistant pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, when he admitted to sexually abusing his son in 1990, according to media reports. Williams had confessed to Bellevue Pastor Steve Gaines, who also served as an SBC president, six months prior to his public admission. There is no public reporting about Williams facing prosecution for his actions. Gaines later acknowledged he should have notified church leadership about Williams immediately, Guidepost investigators said in a report.

  • Donald Brent Page was youth pastor at Dogwood Grove Baptist Church in Montevallo, Alabama and former youth pastor at Siluria Baptist Church in Alabaster and youth worker at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Birmingham. In 2008, he was convicted of interstate travel to have sex with a minor. He had driven to Memphis to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but actually was a Memphis FBI Crimes Against Children Task Force Member. He is on the sex offender registry in Alabama, living in Woodville.

Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess. Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tennesseans on Southern Baptist Convention list of accused abusers