Christianist University Allowed A Child Predator To Get Away

Ben Adams (mugshot courtesy Manhattan Beach Police Department via WHNS)
Ben Adams (mugshot courtesy Manhattan Beach Police Department via WHNS)

A long history of shamefully inadequate response to sexual assault allegations may finally be about to catch up with Bob Jones University. It recently emerged that the ultrafundamentalist school in Greenville, South Carolina failed to report allegations that a former student assaulted a number of minors. The abuse didn’t come to light until the former student was arrested more than a decade later on unrelated charges half a continent away.

On May 25, entertainment lawyer Benjamin Lawson “Ben” Adams was arrested and charged with molesting a 14-year-old boy in Manhattan Beach, California; near Los Angeles. He was arraigned on nine felony counts of lewd acts with a minor, oral copulation with a minor, sexual penetration of a minor, and sodomy with a minor. The lead investigator on the case, Manhattan Beach detective Aleina Smith, believes that Adams met the boy on social media, and “used his title of entertainment attorney” to lure him into several face-to-face meetings. Even though he could potentially spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted, Adams was released on $200,000 bond.

There matters stood until earlier this week, when BJUGrace, a social media ministry that wants BJU to turn from its longstanding practices of victim blaming and victim shaming, got word that Adams had been a former student at BJU and the university’s attached K-12 Christian school, Bob Jones Academy. Smith already suspected there were more victims, but by the middle of the week she was already plumbing Adams’ past in Greenville. She discovered that Adams withdrew from BJU when university officials received complaints from several minors that he had molested them.

According to university spokesman Randy Page, Adams briefly attended BJU in 2004. He subsequently enrolled at Furman University on the other side of Greenville, graduating in 2008. Neither university would comment further, citing student privacy laws.

According to Adams’ LinkedIn profile, he briefly worked at Greer High School in Greer, South Carolina and at Furman before going west to earn a law degree at Pepperdine. Translation–it’s very likely there are more victims in South Carolina. If any are found, Adams can be charged in those incidents; there is no statute of limitations for sex crimes in South Carolina. If you know anything about Adams’ crimes, call Smith at 310-802-5133.

Now here’s where this story really gets hideous. There is no evidence that BJU reported the allegations against Adams to police. Smith revealed this in an email to reporters that, considering the circumstances, was remarkably guarded.

“If the allegations of sexual abuse were made, it is unclear if Bob Jones University, once alerted to the allegations, informed law enforcement. I have not found any documentation that shows the university properly reported the abuse to law enforcement at the time they learned of it.”

Greenville police spokesman Gilberto Franco told The Greenville News that his department has no record of Adams in its database. Indeed, Greenville detectives hadn’t even heard of him until Smith called them.

Apparently the police weren’t the only ones kept in the dark. According to Camille Lewis, who spent the first two decades of her adult life at BJU as a student and a professor, no one in BJU’s administration notified the faculty about Adams. “They never told us,” she said.

Lewis also told me that responsibility for reporting Adams to the police ultimately rested with then-president Bob Jones III and then-dean of students Jim Berg. The final GRACE report largely held Jones and Berg responsible for BJU’s rape culture. It went as far as to recommend that Berg be banned from counseling and that his materials be yanked from the shelves; he retired as dean in 2010 to focus on teaching counseling to graduate students at BJU’s seminary. It also recommended that Jones, who is now chancellor, be disciplined. BJU rejected both recommendations out of hand.

Smith is investigating reports that Adams was referenced in one of the abuse incidents referenced in the GRACE report–“Case #5,” located on page 288 of the full report. You can also read screenshots from Lewis’ Website about BJU’s foibles, “What in the World, BJU?”

Sometime in the mid-2000s, university officials received complaints that a BJU student had been engaging in behavior with a number of boys enrolled at BJA’s middle school that went well beyond boys being boys. Among other things, the BJU student was accused of taking nude pictures of the boys, asking them to measure his penis, and making specific references to sexual activity. Following an investigation, university officials forced the student to withdraw for at least one year. However, he never returned.

Lewis told me that if it does turn out that Adams is “Case #5,” Jones, Berg, the middle school principal, and “every teacher who knew” would have a lot of explaining to do. Berg himself openly admitted that in hindsight, this incident should have been reported to the police. As he put it, “we blew it.” If it does turn out that this incident refers to Adams, will Berg be willing to admit this under oath?

While a number of alumni believe that Adams is “Case #5,” Smith is still searching for corroboration. But even if Adams isn’t “Case #5,” two things are clear beyond real-world doubt. One is that Adams was accused of sexual assault at some point in 2004. Rather than report it to police, BJU allowed him to quietly withdraw–and in so doing, allowed a predator to remain at large for more than a decade.

The other is that the stench from this goes all the way to the top. The two men who should have made sure the police were called failed to do so. This sounds like a remake of the Penn State scandal, starring Adams as Jerry Sandusky, Jones as Graham Spanier, and Berg as Tim Curley.

Adams is due back in court on August 25. However, it would be a mockery of justice if those in BJU’s administration wing who knew about this and failed to report it don’t end up before a judge as well. But it shouldn’t take an investigation for BJU to act. If Jones and Berg have anything left in them, these gentlemen–a term that I use in its loosest possible sense–will apologize and resign. And if they aren’t willing to do so, BJU needs to grow a pair and fire them.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.