Former Fort Worth Baptist Seminary professor charged in federal investigation

Federal prosecutors have charged a former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary employee with obstruction of justice in a sexual misconduct case, the Justice Department announced May 21.

Prosecutors accused Matthew Queen, a former professor and interim provost of the seminary, of falsifying records and notes in connection with a sexual misconduct case that led to the arrest of a student in January 2023. The court has investigated sexual abuse and how it is handled in the Southern Baptist Convention and its units.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth is one of six seminaries operated by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Queen was summoned to an initial court appearance Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the announcement. He could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Queen “attempted to interfere with a federal grand jury investigation by creating false notes to confirm his own lies.”

He added that the charge of criminal obstruction of justice should serve as an example of the seriousness of an individual’s attempts to manipulate or obstruct a federal investigation.”

Since approximately 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI have been investigating allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct and how they are handled within the Southern Baptist Convention and its facilities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The indictment is the first official confirmation of a Justice Department investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention, according to Religion News Service.

According to case documents, the seminary was served with a grand jury subpoena around October 2022. The school was required to provide documents related to allegations of sexual abuse against people employed at or associated with the seminary.

About a month later, a seminary employee received a report alleging that then-seminar student Christian Flores had committed sexual abuse. The employee, called “Employee-1” in the case, brought the allegation to the seminary’s campus police. The Justice Department alleges that the seminary did not report the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as required by law.

Flores was arrested by Burleson police in January 2023, according to a statement from the seminary. He was also suspended from school until the investigation was completed.

Federal investigators allege that during a meeting where Queen was present, “Employee 1” was instructed by a second employee to destroy or “disappear” the document describing the report. During a meeting between Queen and the FBI in May 2023, Queen allegedly “falsely stated” that he did not hear one employee instruct the other to destroy the document.

All employees involved in the allegations no longer work at the seminary, the school wrote in a statement in response to the DOJ’s announcement. According to school officials, Queen was placed on administrative leave and resigned from her position as interim principal after the seminary learned of Queen’s actions in June 2023.

“The seminary has repeatedly informed employees of their obligation to comply with the obligations of the subpoena,” the seminary wrote. “The seminary has cooperated fully with the DOJ in its investigation of sexual abuse and will continue to do so.”

According to the Pew Research Center, the Southern Baptists are the largest evangelical Protestant group in the United States. According to 2020 data from the Association of Religion Data Archives, over 278,000 people in Tarrant County identify as Southern Baptist.

Marissa Greene is a member of the Report for America Corps and reports on faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at [email protected] or @marissaygreene. At The Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Learn more about our editorial independence policy Here.

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