An undergraduate student at a prominent Southern Baptist seminary was reportedly arrested on a felony sexual assault charge and suspended by the school. 

Christian “Curly” Flores, 20, was arrested January 24 on campus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas, according to the seminary. He reportedly turned himself in to officers with the Burleson Police Department.

The seminary also stated it cooperated with the Fort Worth Police Department to locate and arrest Flores.

A statement from Southwestern Seminary indicated Flores was arrested on a warrant “for one count of felony sexual assault.” In Texas, the judicial system commonly uses “sexual assault” to refer to rape. Sexual assault is a second-degree felony under state law, punishable by two to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. 

The school also stated Flores was “immediately suspended as a student, pending the outcome of the investigation.”

Since fall 2020, Flores has been a Christian Studies major in the SWBTS undergraduate program which was rebranded in recent years as Texas Baptist College. Southwestern is one of six seminaries nationwide affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. 

Flores also attended Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, a prominent SBC megachurch located only a few blocks from campus. The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to the church but did not hear back.

A spokesperson for SWBTS stated no further details could be provided at this time.

No release of public records

A suburb in the Fort Worth metropolitan area, Burleson is about 11 miles from Southwestern’s campus. Officials with Burleson Police Department have denied multiple records requests from TRR regarding this arrest.

“We are withholding [the] incident report [of] an open or pending criminal matter,” police records clerk Adrianna Dominguez stated in an email. 

Burleson’s weekly arrest report published Monday does not list Flores or any redaction where his arrest would appear. Records officials did not respond to inquiries on this matter. 

A Burleson Police official said the department partners with two local jails, Everman Jail and Johnson County Jail. Neither facility has publicly listed Flores as incarcerated over the past week. 

On Monday, an official at Everman Jail said they currently have no one being held. Courts in Tarrant and Johnson counties did not list any pending case for Flores as of Monday.

Flores reportedly well-known on campus

According to multiple sources, Flores has served as a volunteer leader on the SWBTS Student Leadership Council. He was popular and well-known, one news report indicated, and some seminary publicity materials included his picture.

The school’s Student Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy posted online states “sexual harassment of any kind” is prohibited. Southwestern is committed to maintaining a campus “free from sexual harassment, including sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or stalking, committed by an employee [or] other student,” it states in part. 

A prominent SBC institution, Southwestern has made headlines in recent years.

Disgraced former SBC president Paige Patterson was president of SWBTS for 15 years. In 2018, the board of trustees fired Patterson for alleged mishandling of a rape report and misogynist statements. An alleged victim has filed a lawsuit against Patterson and SWBTS, with the trial date set for April 3.

The man who replaced Patterson as SWBTS president, Adam Greenway, resigned last fall, less than three years after taking the position. Since late September, SWBTS theology professor David Dockery has served as the school’s interim president. 

A report released in May 2022 revealed widespread cover-up of sexual abuse within the SBC. The convention has since acknowledged it’s under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over its handling of sex crimes.

Sarah Einselen contributed to this report.

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