According to the report, Hunt allegedly groomed and sexually assaulted the woman, a wife of a longtime SBC pastor who had looked up to Hunt as a mentor.
In the report, the pastor’s wife said that Hunt had arranged for her rented condo to be next to his and was surprised by that fact when she arrived. After the two conversed on their separate balconies, she allegedly invited him over to sit in the shade on her balcony after he commented on how hot it was.
Hunt explained that their encounter was “brief, but improper,” and ended when he felt an overwhelming conviction, saying, “I stopped it and I fled the situation. I remember saying just before leaving the condo, ‘this is not right. I have no business being here. I love my wife.’ I have never been in a room again privately with the woman involved.”
“I thank God we did not go further than we did, but that is also no excuse for my grievous sin,” Hunt said. “I will regret that day for the rest of my life and I take responsibility for the situation because I chose to enter her condo.”
Apologizing to FBCW, Hunt said, “It was an awful sin but it was a consensual encounter.”
‘It Was Not Abuse Nor Was It Assault’
“It was not abuse nor was it assault,” Hunt reiterated. The longtime SBC minister shared that after the incident took place, he “almost immediately” engaged in a process where he took responsibility.
Hunt praised his wife Janet for forgiving him, saying that she was “far more gracious” than he deserved. Hunt said that he also reached out to the woman’s husband and apologized to the couple face-to-face. He then received professional help from a counselor and guidance on the process of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration.
Hunt said that he was willing to resign as pastor of FBCW, but after completing the restoration process, he felt he could return to FBCW in the fall of 2010—a few months after the incident took place.
“That is what happened. I want you to know that this is the truth. It is also the whole truth,” Hunt said. “Church, I want to be direct: I’m not seeking your sympathy. I am not a victim. I have to bear the responsibility for my sin, which has basically cost me everything, except my faith and my family, over the last seven days. I’m also not asking you to feel sorry for me. This is my burden to bear. I am asking you to please pray for us.”
‘Guidepost Report Is Sensationalized. I Did Not Groom the Woman’
Hunt further accused the 288-page Guidepost Solutions Report that detailed his encounter with the pastor’s wife of being “sensationalized.” While he admitted that his sin was awful, he said, “I did not groom the woman involved nor did I intentionally arrange the encounter (I didn’t even know who owned the condo), and there are other details in the description that are stated as fact which did not happen.”
The former pastor called the allegation that the encounter constituted assault “absurd.”
