Mark Aderholt was a Southern Baptist pastor, a member of the International Mission Board, and the associate executive director and chief strategist for the statewide Southern Baptist Convention affiliate.
He was also a child molester. When one of his victims reported that he sexually abused and assaulted her, the International Mission Board investigated and sustained her allegation, yet they did not report him to the police and it did not affect his career since he went on to work for the Southern Baptist Convention in Alabama.
Years later, she learned that the IMB failed to report him to the police and went to the police herself.
He was charged four counts of sexual assault of a child under 17, a second-degree felony. He pled guilty to assault causing bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 24 months probation, plus a $4,000 fine. The survivor, Anne Marie Miller, wrote an essay explaining why she was okay with the extraordinary plea deal that leaves him without a criminal record after completing probation. His lawyer told reporters he only pleaded guilty for closure.
- The Alabama Baptist: Mark Aderholt Archive
- Anne Marie Miller: Mark Aderholt’s Criminal Record is Wiped Clean Today and Why I Supported the Plea Deal Instead of a Trial
- The Wartburg Watch: Did the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board Decide Not to Report Sexual Assault They Knew About for Years?
- Baptist Press: Mark Aderholt pleads guilty in sex assault case
Fort Worth, Texas · Wednesday, July 03, 2019