This week in Christian history: Bob Jones University exonerated, missionary nurse martyred
BJU not guilty of violating sex crime reporting laws – July 20, 2015
This week marks the anniversary of when Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian academic institution based in South Carolina, was found not guilty of violating sex crime reporting laws.
The Greenville Police Department had opened an investigation into BJU several months earlier into whether teachers, counselors and other school officials had failed to obey South Carolina law by not reporting knowledge of alleged sexual crimes against juvenile students to authorities.
"After interviewing all available witnesses, reviewing historical documentation, and consulting with the solicitor, it was jointly concluded that there is insufficient evidence to establish probable cause or prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either the faculty or administration of BJU in place at that time violated the mandatory reporting law in the cases we reviewed," stated Greenville authorities at the time.
The investigation followed an independent report by the organization Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) that was conducted at the request of BJU, which included many former BJU students, including 50 who were identified as victims of sexual assault.
The GRACE investigation had found multiple allegations of sexual assault victims who were told by school officials to "repent" and reportedly encouraged not to file police reports.
While police found that the majority of cases involved assaults that occurred years earlier and outside of Greenville County, then BJU President Steve Pettit acknowledged that the school's administration had "failed in meeting the needs of some who sought our help and we have lost their trust."
