Three Mid-Missouri preachers accused in Southern Baptist sex abuse report

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Southern Baptist Convention released a once-confidential report outlining hundreds of accounts of alleged sexual abuse from preachers across the country, including three in Mid-Missouri.

The report, which is over 200 pages, lists preachers who have been accused of sodomy, child pornography and other acts of sexual abuse. Three of the accused abusers are from Mid-Missouri:

• Dale Gregory Johnson is a former youth director for Parkade Baptist Church in Columbia who pled guilty to sodomy and child pornography in 2016.
• In the report, Travis Smith is listed as a pastor at First Baptist Church in Stover. Smith received a four-year sentence for statutory rape, sexual abuse and sodomy in 2016 with accusations from multiple victims. Smith was acquitted of previous charges from 2011.
• The late Joseph Edmund Conger is a former pastor of New Life Baptist Church in Cole Camp at First Baptist Church in Climax Springs. Conger pled guilty to sodomy with a teen in 2009 and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Willie McLaurin, interim president and CEO of the SBC Committee, and Rolland Slade, chairman of the SBC Committee, released a joint statement on the report. The two said the release of the report is an important first step to acknowledging the "scourge of sexual abuse" and reforming the convention.

"Each entry in this list reminds us of the devastation and destruction brought about by sexual abuse," the statement said. "Our prayer is that the survivors of these heinous acts find hope and healing, and that churches will utilize this list proactively to protect and care for the most vulnerable among us."

An independent investigation from Guidepost prompted the Convention to release the full report.