FORT WORTH, Texas — A former professor and administrator at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a false statement to federal investigators, court records show.
Federal officials charged Matt Queen, who formerly served as a professor and interim provost at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in May with falsifying records allegedly in an attempt to cover up an abuse report.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI began investigating allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct in the Southern Baptist Convention in 2022. As part of that investigation, a grand jury was issued to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, requiring it to turn over documents related to allegations of sexual abuse.
Queen’s lawyer, Sam Schmidt, said the government allowed Queen to plead guilty to making false statements and is dismissing the other charge. Schmidt said sentencing in the case is set for Feb. 26, and the sentencing guidelines in the case are zero-to-six months in prison.
“Dr. Queen believes that all allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment should be investigated, should be handled properly,” Schmidt said. “The mistake that he made and the crimes he acknowledged in June of 2023 was not for the purpose of preventing an investigation into any act of sexual abuse.”
The charge stems from a report in Nov. 2022 that a student at the seminary had allegedly committed sexual abuse, according to the May indictment against Queen.
The employee that received the report, now known to be Terri Stovall, notified campus police at the seminary, but there was no further action by the seminary and the allegation wasn’t reported to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In January 2023, Stovall created a document describing the sexual abuse allegation and met with Queen and another executive staff member, and the unnamed staff member directed Stovall to destroy the document, according to the indictment.
Queen allegedly falsely said he hadn’t heard the unnamed executive staff member direct Stovall to destroy the document in a May 2023 interview with investigators, per the indictment.
Queen allegedly provided the U.S. Attorney’s office with a copy of his notes from the meeting to corroborate his claim, according to the indictment.
Queen then testified under oath in June 2023 that he had heard the unnamed executive staff member direct the employee to make the document “go away.”
Queen was placed on administrative leave from Southwestern in June of 2023 and resigned as interim provost. He serves as pastor at Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C.
Following Queen’s plea, Southwestern said in a statement that they remain committed to cooperating with the Department of Justice in the investigation.
“From the beginning, Southwestern Seminary has fully cooperated with the Department of Justice in its investigation of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention. We remain resolute in our commitment to continue to do so,” the statement read. “We pray for victims of sexual abuse. Southwestern Seminary remains committed to doing everything possible to protect all members of the seminary community from sexual abuse and harassment.”
Stovall, dean of women, in a statement described the impact of the incident on her and the seminary.
“My hope is that the full truth and extent of his actions—and the actions of others who are no longer employed at Southwestern—will one day come to light,” Stovall said. “Their egregious behavior has caused deep harm to me and others within our Southwestern community, and has brought significant cost to the institution, while harming their own Gospel witness.”
She said she has more to share as well.
“One day, I will tell my full story; today is not that day,” Stovall said.
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