Did Birmingham Baptist Association director cover up sex abuse of boys by youth pastor? Victim says yes

By Greg Garrison
AL.com
July 2, 2014

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2014/07/did_birmingham_baptist_associa.html

The Rev. Mike McLemore, executive director of the Birmingham Baptist Assocation, was pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church at the time of alleged abuse by youth pastor Mack Allen Davis.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The Rev. Mike McLemore, executive director of the Birmingham Baptist Assocation since 2007 and pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church from 1983-2007, knew about and covered up allegations of sexual abuse by the church's youth minister, according to one of the victims.

McLemore, reached on Tuesday, denied the accusation, although he acknowledged dealing with the situation privately, which included forcing a youth pastor to retire early.

"It was a private matter with the family," McLemore said. "The family involved had asked me to keep the situation confidential. I advised them what they had the right to do."

Mack Allen Davis, a former youth pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church from 1977-99, faces sex abuse charges in Jefferson, Cherokee and St. Clair counties after two men stepped forward to say Allen molested them 30 years ago.

Davis, 73, whose last address was in Athens, faces 15 charges from the three counties, according to court records.

Davis' nephew, Andrew Guffey, 44, said he was abused by his uncle starting at age 9.

"It's ruined my life," Guffey said. "I've been in therapy since I was 12 years old. My first sexual experience was with him at 9 years old."

Davis joined the staff of Lakeside Baptist Church as minister of youth and recreation in 1977. By the next summer, he was director of the church's summer camp.

In about 1997, Davis' wife, Jimmie, found out about the abuse when she read a letter sent from Guffey to Davis that threatened to reveal the relationship.

Around the time of Davis' retirement from the church in 1999, Jimmie Davis said she found another letter, from a boy named Matthew who attended Lakeside Baptist Church, also threatening to reveal his sexual abuse by Davis. Matthew was concerned about who would pay for his counseling, now that Davis was retiring from the staff of the church at age 59.

Ms. Davis filed for divorce and kicked her husband out of the house. She said that Lakeside Baptist, led by then-Pastor Mike McLemore, covered up the abuse, made a deal with Matthew's parents demanding their silence, and told her to lie about it if asked, she said.

"I sat with McLemore myself," Ms. Davis said. "He said I've talked with Mack and there's not anything to this. I know he knew it. I know he did. I think that he is as guilty in some respects as Mack is."

For years, Guffey said that he felt pressure from the church to keep the sexual abuse a secret.

"I was encouraged by the church to keep quiet," Guffey said. "My grandfather is a retired Southern Baptist minister. I was told that we protect the church. Through therapy, I realized I needed to try to do something."

Ms. Davis said that she suspects her ex-husband sexually abused dozens of boys, although she only has evidence of two from the letters written to him.

When Guffey sent e-mails to the Lakeside staff telling them of abuse accusations against Davis, McLemore called a meeting and denied it, Ms. Davis said. One staff member who was then director of children's ministry questioned why McLemore did not inform the staff if he knew about such allegations, and she resigned, Ms. Davis said.

Under current reporting guidelines, clergy are required to notify law enforcement when they learn of allegations of child sexual abuse. It's not clear if the law at the time specifically required McLemore to report abuse and the statute of limitations on violating it would have expired by now, but it would have been the right thing to do, one criminal investigator said.

Guffey said he blames McLemore as much as Davis.

"He's a bigger creep to me than Mack," Guffey said. "He was more worried about the church's image than doing what's right. He should not be in his position where he is."

McLemore served as president of the Alabama Baptist Convention from 2000-2002, representing more than a million Southern Baptists in 3,200 Alabama churches. As director of the Birmingham Baptist Association, he oversees coordinated mission work for about 130 churches around the city.

"Mike was aware of my abuse in 1989-90 and refused to do anything," Guffey said. "My aunt sat down with him and Mack in the office. It was swept under a rug. They sent Matthew to therapy."

Ms. Davis said that McLemore paid for Matthew's therapy through the church benevolence fund, and that Mack Davis was required to write checks to the benevolence fund to pay for the counseling. "I would have never questioned him writing checks to the benevolence fund," Ms. Davis said.

Ms. Davis said the last time she spoke with McLemore, he came to her house.
"He said, 'We can't tell anybody about this. If anybody asks you, it didn't happen. And I want to know how you plan to repay the benevolence fund.'"

McLemore insists he did not know about Davis abusing Guffey, and that Matthew's family requested privacy.

"That's his allegation," McLemore said of his knowledge of Davis abusing Guffey. "What Andrew's saying is not true. We've gone through this before. It just was not true. I kept the documentation on everything that transpired."

McLemore met with a current investigator on the case. "They've got my statement," he said.

Guffey said he was abused by Davis in numerous locations including the Shocco Springs Baptist Camp in Talladega and the Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center in North Carolina. The accusations against Davis in the criminal charges includes abuse at church office and at Camp Chula Vista in St. Clair County.

"He would bring the church bus to my house and pick me up," Guffey said. "It centered around church activities."

Guffey said that when Davis was forced to retire from Lakeside, the church honored him.

"They threw a party for Mack when they let him go," Guffey said. "They gave him a love offering. I think it was a fair amount of money."

Ms. Davis said that even though Southern Baptists passed a resolution condemning the sexual abuse of children in 2007 - a convention that McLemore attended - she believes not enough is being done to expose the cover-ups that she says leave other children vulnerable.

McLemore said he advises churches on reporting sexual abuse.

"Churches need to be aware of what their responsibilities are - if they have allegations of abuse, to report them," McLemore said. "When I found out about it, I took action."

Ms. Davis said the action he took was to cover it up.

"He had a responsibility to report this," Ms. Davis said. "He was concerned about saving his face, and Lakeside's face. He ought not to be a leader in the Baptist association."