A former Southern Baptist seminary professor and interim provost has been indicted on a charge of obstructing justice in a sexual misconduct case, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Matt Queen, who was previously an administrator and professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, allegedly gave the FBI falsified notes during an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct on the seminary, which is in Fort Worth. He was arraigned Tuesday, in line with the DOJ.
“As alleged, Matthew Queen attempted to interfere with a federal grand jury investigation by creating false notes in an try to corroborate his own lies,” said US Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York in a press release. “The criminal obstruction charge announced today should exemplify the seriousness of attempts by any individual to control or interfere with a federal investigation.”
Queen, who was named pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, earlier this yr, couldn’t be reached for comment.
The indictment is the primary official acknowledgment by the DOJ of an investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention and its entities. Southern Baptist leaders announced in 2022 that that they had been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice and promised to cooperate.
News of the DOJ investigation followed the discharge of a report from Guidepost Solutions showing that SBC leaders had mistreated abuse survivors for years, denied responsibility for the actions of local churches and downplayed the variety of sexual abuse cases within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Earlier this yr, the SBC’s Executive Committee announced the DOJ’s investigation into the committee was ended, resulting in confusion. The Executive Committee later issued a press release saying the DOJ’s investigation into the SBC and its entities remained open.
In a press release Tuesday, the DOJ gave more details in regards to the investigation.
“Since roughly 2022, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (‘US Attorney’s Office’) and the FBI have been investigating allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct related to a national religious denomination (the ‘Denomination’) and its affiliated entities, and the alleged cover-up of such allegations by individuals and entities related to the Denomination,” in line with a press release.
As a part of that investigation, Southwestern was required to provide any documents about abuse to the FBI. However, in line with the DOJ, a seminary official received a report of alleged sexual abuse by a student in the autumn of 2022. That alleged abuse was reported to the college’s campus police, though to not the FBI, but no other motion was taken.
A Southwestern staffer, known as “Employee-1” by the DOJ, was later told by a Southwestern leader (Employee-2) to destroy a document in regards to the incident and the seminary’s inaction, in line with the DOJ. Queen was allegedly within the room with Employee-1 when this happened, but allegedly told the FBI in an interview that he had not heard Employee-2 say to destroy the report.
He subsequently produced a set of faux notes from the meeting, the DOJ alleges, which he presented to the FBI in June 2023—but he gave conflicting stories about when the notes were written, later admitting the notes were fake.
Image: Screengrab / RNS
Matt Queen in a video for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in November 2022.
“On June 21, 2023, MATTHEW QUEEN testified under oath that he had in actual fact heard Employee-2 direct Employee-1 to make the Document ‘go away,’” in line with the DOJ.
The 49-year-old Queen could withstand 20 years in prison after being charged with one count of falsification of records.
“Matthew Queen, an interim Provost, allegedly did not inform the FBI of a conspiracy to destroy evidence related to the continuing investigation of sexual misconduct and as an alternative produced falsified notes to investigators. Queen’s alleged actions deliberately violated a court order and delayed justice for the sexual abuse victims,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith in a press release. “The FBI won’t ever tolerate those that intentionally lie and mislead our investigation in an try to conceal their malicious behavior.”
In a press release, Southwestern said the coed involved within the alleged abuse was suspended and later withdrew from the college. The seminary also stated it reported the matter to the DOJ because it was required to do.
The school said the alleged actions described within the indictment were “antithetical to the values of the seminary.”
“After the seminary learned of Queen’s actions in June 2023, he was immediately placed on administrative leave and resigned as interim provost,” the college said within the statement. “All employees alleged to have acted improperly on this matter are not any longer employed by the seminary.”
Southwestern, once certainly one of the nation’s largest seminaries, has fallen on hard times in recent times. Last yr a report from the college’s leaders detailed years of monetary mismanagement, including overspending its budget by $140 million over 20 years. The school’s former president, who left in the autumn of 2022, is suing the college for defamation.
The school also settled a lawsuit in 2023 with a victim of Paul Pressler, a legendary SBC leader, and in 2021, sued to regain control of a Texas foundation that had been taken over by former staffers, who allegedly tried to divert money away from the seminary.
