Longtime Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler, who was accused of sexual abuse, dies at 94

HOUSTON (AP) — Paul Pressler, a leading figure of the Southern Baptist Convention who was accused of sexual abuse and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations, has died. He was 94. Pressler’s death on June 7 was announced in an obituary posted online by a Houston funeral home. A funeral service for Pressler was held Saturday. Pressler was one of the co-architects of the Southern Baptist Convention’s so-called conservative resurgence in the 1980s that pushed America’s largest Protestant denomination in a more hardline direction. A 2017 lawsuit prompted allegations that Pressler had sexually assaulted or abused several boys and young men over various years. The lawsuit was settled in December.