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Amid sex scandal, Southern Baptist leader puts 3 North Texas churches on notice

The local churches singled out by J.D. Greear are First Baptist Church in Bedford, Bolivar Baptist Church in Sanger and Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland.

The leader of the Southern Baptist Convention singled out three North Texas churches for increased scrutiny this week in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal plaguing the denomination.

J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, targeted 10 churches in a speech he gave Monday to the convention's executive committee about a need for action against sexual abuse in its churches.

Greear said the convention should kick out churches that show a "wanton disregard for sexual abuse and for caring for the survivors."

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His comments came after an investigation published this month by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News found 380 cases of sexual abuse at Southern Baptist churches over 20 years, with more than 700 people having reported abuse.

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The North Texas churches listed by Greear were First Baptist Church in Bedford, Bolivar Baptist Church in Sanger and Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland.

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Three Houston churches were also on Greear's list — including Second Baptist Church, a megachurch led by former Southern Baptist Convention president Ed Young — bringing the total of Texas churches named to six.

The four other churches included two in Georgia, one in Arkansas and one in Kentucky.

Garland

Two former youth pastors for Arapaho Road in Garland are serving prison sentences after they were convicted of federal child pornography charges. 

Joshua Earls, a former youth minister at the Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland, was...
Joshua Earls, a former youth minister at the Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on a child pornography charge after exchanging sexually explicit photos and texts with a girl he met at the church.(File photo)

Joshua Earls, 35, is serving a 12-year sentence in Texarkana after his sentencing in 2014. He pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography after exchanging sexually explicit texts and photos with a 16-year-old girl he met at the church.

His brother, 30-year-old Jordan Earls, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2015, court documents show. He remains in prison in Seagoville.

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Jordan Earls was accused of crimes against two girls, including one who said he made her perform oral sex on him in a Sunday school room at the church.

A church spokeswoman said in a written statement that Arapaho Road has made changes since the allegations against the Earls brothers arose.

The church created a paid position for a director of safety and security, who ensures church protocols are being followed by staff and volunteers, conducts weekly staff training on sexual abuse prevention and holds regular church-wide seminars on spotting sexual predators.

Jordan Earls, a former youth minister at Arapaho Road Baptist Church, was sentenced to 15...
Jordan Earls, a former youth minister at Arapaho Road Baptist Church, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a federal child pornography charge. (File photo)

It also asked sexual abuse prevention experts to advise the church about signs of sexual predators, according to the church's statement.

"From the moment leaders learned of the 2013 allegations, the church has been and remains committed to pushing everything into the light and being transparent," the spokeswoman said. "That is the only way for true healing to happen for everyone involved and we continue to pray for and be available for pastoral care for those impacted."

Bedford

At First Baptist in Bedford, Charles Adcock worked as a music minister while free on bail after he was charged in 2015 with 29 counts of rape and sodomy involving a 14-year-old girl he met at a church in Alabama, according to AL.com.

Adcock has maintained his innocence, but he pleaded guilty to a sodomy charge in January 2016 and served a 15-month sentence, the paper reported.

Charles Adcock
Charles Adcock(Arkansas Crime Information Center)

Pastor Billy Taylor, who leads the Bedford church, said those responsible for allowing Adcock to work at First Baptist were removed shortly after the discovery of his arrest.

"Our hearts go out to all who are affected by sexual abuse," Taylor said in a written statement from the church. "We are grieved by the pain and suffering they experience, and we pray for healing and restoration."

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Taylor said in the statement that the church wasn't aware of any instances of abuse that took place while Adcock was employed at the church in Bedford, but he urged anyone to contact law enforcement if they knew of abuse.

He said the church was committed to revising its policies, including adding new policies "that would have prevented Mr. Adcock from working at our church four years ago."

Sanger

At Bolivar Baptist Church, the Sanger congregation's longtime pastor, Dale "Dickie" Amyx was accused in a civil lawsuit in 2006 of inappropriately touching a woman named Debbie Vasquez starting when she was 14 and later impregnating her at age 18.

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They met at a church in Lewisville, according to Denton Record-Chronicle archives.

Dickie Amyx, pastor of the Bolivar Baptist Church in Sanger.
Dickie Amyx, pastor of the Bolivar Baptist Church in Sanger.(File photo)

Vasquez has since become an activist, speaking out against abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention and demanding reforms to protect church members, according to the Houston Chronicle.

In a sworn deposition, Amyx said he believed Vasquez was 17 when he began having sex with her.

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"I hated it, that it happened," he said in the deposition, according to the Record-Chronicle. "I told her many times I never meant to hurt her, and if I did, I'm sorry. And she always said that it was OK."

He said during the deposition that he paid child support for nine years beginning when Vasquez's child was 9 years old.

A phone call to a number listed in public records for Amyx was not answered Wednesday. A phone call and Facebook message to the church were not returned.

The Houston Chronicle reported that Amyx is still employed by Bolivar Baptist Church, citing online reviews that show he still regularly gives sermons at the church.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.