Southern Baptist Preacher Pleads Guilty to Assault, SNAP responds

A Southern Baptist preacher who once headed the home church of President Bill Clinton has pled guilty to misdemeanor assault 11 years after a denominational panel substantiated allegations of sexual abuse against him but did not report it the police.

He also held an executive job at the South Carolina Baptist Convention, where he reportedly earned $120,000 a year.

Rev. Mark Aderholt worked in several Southern Baptist churches including the prestigious Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas – where the Clintons attended.

He was arrested last July on charges of sexual assault of a minor, and was ordered to spend 30 days in jail and pay a $4,000 fine.

We ache for his victim (or victims). We hope they will feel some comfort and closure with this plea. And we hope that others who were hurt by Baptist officials will find the courage to report to independent sources of pain like police, prosecutors, therapists and support groups like ours.

CONTACT: Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)