Other Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Woodstock, Georgia, USA · 2022

Guidepost investigation finds credible sexual-assault allegation against former SBC president Johnny Hunt

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Official finding

Authority role

Southern Baptist Convention president and senior pastor

Organization

Southern Baptist Convention, First Baptist Church Woodstock

Spiritual nexus

Hunt was the denomination's president and the couple's senior pastoral authority; the investigation found he groomed the couple with flattery and promises of ministry career help before the assault, using that pastoral standing to obtain access and isolation.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2022-05-22 · official investigative finding

Guidepost Solutions independent investigation for the Southern Baptist Convention. Guidepost Solutions' independent investigation found credible an allegation that then-SBC president Johnny Hunt sexually assaulted the wife of a subordinate pastor in 2010, and stated investigators did not find Hunt's denials credible. Hunt's subsequent defamation suit against Guidepost and the SBC was rejected by a federal judge in March 2025. No criminal charge was filed.

Appellate history

2025-03-31 · undefined

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Documented coercion mechanisms

senior pastoral authority over a subordinate pastor's family
grooming through promises of career advancement in ministry

Primary record

Sources

institutional reporting civil opinion 'Judge rules in favor of Guidepost and SBC in Johnny Hunt lawsuit', Religion News Service, 31 March 2025.: RNS reports the federal court's rejection of Hunt's defamation suit and recounts the Guidepost finding that the assault allegation was credible.

Related record

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