One of the most prominent Southern Baptist churches in Arkansas is embroiled in controversy for failing to disclose child abuse by a former youth minister for more than seven years. During that time, the abuser was hired as a children’s ministry director at another Baptist church.

The controversy concerns Patrick Stephen Miller, who served as assistant director of children’s ministry at Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) in Little Rock, Ark., from May 2014 to January 2016.

Miller was arrested in December 2018 and charged with second-degree assault for molesting a girl in an IBC Sunday school classroom in 2015. In a plea deal in January 2022, Miller, now 37, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment.

However, in March 2016, about two months after Miller left his job at IBC, families told IBC leaders that Miller had molested their children, according to a statement released to The Roys Report (TRR) by IBC.

The church said it immediately reported the crimes to authorities.

Yet Miller was subsequently hired as a children’s ministry staff member at First Moore Baptist in Moore, Okla., where he served until July 2018, according to an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Plus, IBC did not tell its congregation about Miller’s crime until last Sunday—just hours after the Democrat-Gazette published its article, revealing the lack of disclosure. According to the Gazette, most members at IBC didn’t know Miller had been charged or convicted of a crime.

After instructing all “guests” to exit the sanctuary because IBC was having a “family meeting,” IBC Pastor Steven Smith apologized for not informing the congregation sooner, according to a second article and recording published by the Gazette.

“I wish we would have told you about these crimes sooner,” said Smith.  “. . . We recognize the importance of treating abuse behavior seriously. We intend to honor Christ in the way we care for anyone who’s experienced past abuse.” 

In its statement to TRR, IBC said church leaders didn’t reveal Miller’s crimes when they first learned of them because doing so might negatively impact the prosecutors’ investigation.

Immanuel Baptist, which was founded in 1892, remains one of Little Rock’s most prominent evangelical churches. Former President Bill Clinton was once a member there. 

Pastor Steven Smith, who’s been at IBC since 2017, also is quite prominent within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). His father is former SBC President Bailey Smith. And Steven Smith served as a vice president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also served on the preaching team at Prestonwood Baptist church in Dallas and currently is a preaching professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.

The church’s handling of Miller’s crimes has become public now because in July, Miller filed a motion for a Little Rock judge to seal his court record.

This prompted families of Miller’s victims to hire a lawyer, Joseph Gates, a Sunday School teacher at IBC, who filed a victims’ response to Miller’s motion to seal on November 9. That response includes never-before released details about the crimes.

A court hearing on Miller’s motion to expunge his record has been set for Feb. 1 in Little Rock. Meanwhile, a second victim has come forward, and Miller remains under investigation, according to multiple news reports.

Molesting girls during ‘hide-and-seek’ at Ark. church

The victims’ response recounts how Miller taught a class of fourth-grade girls, which met on Sunday and Wednesday nights in an IBC classroom. 

“He routinely played ‘hide and seek’ with his class,” the response states. “This would include Defendant Miller hiding in a darkened and locked closet with one of the students . . . (he) would tickle, grope, and molest the young adolescents he was charged to teach.”

A second similar incident, recounted in court documents, was reported by the Gazette. One of the victims accused Miller of “taking a child into a dark closet, sitting her on his lap, placing his hands down her pants and beneath her shirt, and sexually assaulting her.”

The victims’ response notes that MinistrySafe, a nonprofit group with expertise in child-safety policies, states: “Statistically, one does not offend in a vacuum. The average offender of young women will offend at least 50 victims.”

In his plea deal, Miller received a one-year suspended sentence. Miller was also not required to register as a sex offender.

TRR reached out to Miller’s attorney, Alex A. Morphis of Little Rock, for comment, but did not hear back by publication time. 

Did IBC notify the church that hired Miller?

In its statement to the Gazette, IBC leaders said they “knew this man had applied for employment at other churches, which is why they contacted those churches.”

However, IBC did not include that assertion in the statement it released to TRR.

Miller was hired in June 2016 as children’s ministry associate by First Moore Baptist in Moore, Okla., according to an archived version of the church website. Within months, he was promoted to associate director of children’s ministry.

A social post dated October 8, 2017 praised Miller as part of “one of the best ministerial staffs in the history of ever.”

TRR reached out to First Moore Baptist for a statement but did not receive a response. Social posts referring to Miller were subsequently removed.

It is unclear if the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) received the reports of abuse at the time.

TRR reached out to a spokesperson at ABSC regarding communication with the prominent megachurch about the former staff member, but he declined to respond. 

Referencing safety policies at IBC, Smith said in his statement, “We can always do better and we’re working with national experts to create even more safeguards to protect the people in our church.”

Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.