Former official at Georgia Baptist university indicted on charges of lying about sexual assault

CLEVELAND, Ga. (AP) — A former vice president at a Baptist university in northeast Georgia has been indicted on charges that he lied when he denied sexually assaulting a woman who was a student and later a university employee.

A White County grand jury on Monday indicted Bradley Reynolds on three felony counts of making false statements to law enforcement.

Reynolds was the vice president of academic affairs at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia, until he resigned in 2024. Reynolds didn’t respond to phone calls from news outlets seeking comment.

The indictment stems from a March 2024 interview of Reynolds by sheriff’s investigator Anthony Sims. Grand jurors allege Reynolds lied when he told Sims he never had a sexual relationship with the woman. They also allege Reynolds lied when he denied controlling an email account that sent more than 300 emails that the women provided to investigators. Finally, they allege Reynolds lied when he denied telling the woman that his wife was going to die and he was going to make the woman his second wife.

The question of Reynolds’ behavior and whether university officials covered it up have roiled Truett McConnell, a conservative 3,100-student college that normally sees little public protest. University trustees in September removed President Emir Caner, who had been on leave since June, after an investigator presented findings. Trustees made John Yarbrough the interim president.

Caner has denied concealing or ignoring any assaults. Opponents of Caner say he retaliated against two administrators who pressed him on the allegations, pushing them out of their jobs. The school has denied any retaliation.

Southern Baptists have faced allegations that hundreds of church leaders and workers have abused people over the years and that the denomination hasn’t done enough to prevent abuse.

The former student discussed her sexual assault allegations on a May 29 podcast. She claims she was repeatedly assaulted when she went to Bradley’s home for Bible study.

Truett McConnell issued a statement May 30, saying that it first became aware of the allegations in February 2024, when the administrator informed the university he was under investigation by the White County Sheriff’s Office “regarding an inappropriate relationship.” The university said Bradley’s employment ended within days and that school leaders later learned that the administrator had sent “hundreds” of “sexually-explicit and theologically-twisted” emails from a personal account.

White County sheriff’s investigators initially concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to seek criminal charges. But District Attorney Jeff Langley reopened the case.

Marcia Shein, the woman’s attorney, told the Now Habersham website that her client is “very grateful that the DA in White County investigated, and that the district attorney presented the case to the grand jury. Now we’ll just let the justice system proceed.”

Langley said authorities will coordinate next steps to get Reynolds to Georgia to answer to the charges.