“There is a legitimate fear that all of the work that went into that investigation, making that investigation happen, that they’ll come back with thoughts and prayers but no action,” Williams said regarding the Guidepost Solutions report.
Williams said that she wouldn’t have had such a hard time believing that life matters if she could have witnessed people fighting for survivors. “The one redeeming thing that I see happening regardless of what the Southern Baptist Convention decides to do in response is that survivors will see that they were fought for it,” she shared. “If I had been a little girl seeing more people actively fighting this issue, I probably would have had fewer thoughts of despair.”
Williams filed a defamation lawsuit against 12 leaders and SBC-affiliated institutions last August, but her attorney shared that the case was “lacking in some causes of action.” Now it has been withdrawn, cleaned up, and refiled under different legal counsel.
Shortly after the release of the Guidepost Solutions report, Williams posted a photo she had taken with Hunt back in 2017 and wrote, “Johnny Hunt: 2017…I’m still in the abuse. He prayed that I would forgive those who had ‘alleged’ abused me. He encouraged me to not turn to alcohol. He asked for a picture to document God’s healing hand in my life.”
Williams’ post elicited a reply from SBC survivor Tiffany Thigpen. Thigpen simply posted a “nauseated face” emoji.
— Hannah-Kate (@freedomsbride) May 20, 2022