Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary interim provost Matt Queen received last week a judgement of time served with one year of supervised release, six months of home confinement and a $2,000 fine related to a federal investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) regarding sexual abuse.
Queen, 50, must also immediately pay a $100 special assessment. The term of supervised release must include Queen’s participation in outpatient mental health treatment and continued usage of prescribed medications. New lines of credit may not be opened without the approval of a probation officer. During home confinement, he must wear an electronic monitor and can only leave to obtain medical care for himself or his wife, and that only with written permission from a probation officer.
Queen’s attorney, Sam Schmidt, told media his client faced a maximum of five years in prison.
The charges stemmed from a Department of Justice investigation into allegations of mishandled claims of sexual abuse in the SBC and falsified notes that Queen made in early 2023 over a reported case of sexual abuse at Southwestern.
“[Dr. Queen] is thankful that he will not serve time in prison and will seek to use his time under home confinement to help others,” Schmidt said.
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Last November, Queen resigned as pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church, an SBC-affiliated congregation in Greensboro, North Carolina.
A month ago, Schmidt filed a document on Queen’s behalf containing letters from family and friends extolling the former pastor’s character and detailing the impact the investigation had taken on his physical, mental and emotional health.
Queen’s former employer released a statement upon news of the judge’s decision.
“Since November 2022, Southwestern Seminary has fully cooperated with the Department of Justice’s investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention’s response to sexual abuse,” it read. “With the criminal justice process now complete regarding the charges against Matt Queen, we are hopeful that the investigation will soon reach its conclusion, allowing all parties to move forward. Our prayers for Matt Queen and his family as well as all others involved in this process continue.
“Southwestern Seminary remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of all members of our community, taking every possible measure to prevent sexual abuse and harassment.”
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.
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5 Responses
I feel like something doesn’t add up here. The original article linked about Queen’s offense merely says that he lied to investigators to back up Heath Woolman’s claim that he did not order notes about a sexual assault to be destroyed. Of course that’s bad, but from what I can tell, Woolman himself hasn’t been prosecuted at all, and is still pastoring a church (or was as of last May). Why did the DOJ come down so hard on a secondary character and not even indict a primary character in the story? And some of the conditions of Queen’s home confinement seem to indicate that there’s more to the story (the mental health requirements and the financial restrictions). What, exactly, was he convicted of?
Vivian, I was wondering about that, too. Very confusing. I read the previous articles trying to make sense of the situation. It is too bad that the author of the latest article didn’t do a recap of the investigation.
This man should not be the face for alleged SBC corruption while the real culprits get off free.
The SBC just doesn’t get it. You got wolves leading the sheep. Sheesh…
The SBC may intentionally delay its responses to the denomination’s sexual abuse crisis, but the feds don’t waste time. Queen lied to federal investigators. He’s fortunate to have received, figuratively speaking, a slap on the wrist.