LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) investigation found evidence that children suffered sexual and physical abuse at boarding schools and other sites in the Congo.
A new report from the denomination's Independent Committee of Inquiry said there may be other cases and urged further checking on allegations about schools in Egypt and Cameroon. It also recommended that the United Methodist Church investigate an unidentified missionary in the Congo.
The inquiry began with a 1998 complaint that several women filed against retired missionary William Pruitt with the church's regional governing body in Dallas. Pruitt, who denied the charges, died in 1999 at age 88.
The panel reviewed allegations from the 1940s through 1970 and found "overwhelming" evidence that Pruitt abused 16 girls in the Congo and another six in the United States, often using hypnosis or massages to make victims more vulnerable.
The panel recommended that the church enact a zero-tolerance policy against abusive missionaries, require mission workers to report child abuse and oust abusers from the ministry, even posthumously.
The panel spent two years reviewing the abuse allegations. The Louisville-based denomination released its 173-page report Monday.
No criminal charges were ever filed against Pruitt. It was unclear whether African children were also victimized, but the report will be referred to church leaders there.
The report said several of Pruitt's colleagues knew of allegations against him but took no action against the popular missionary, adding that mission executives could have prevented further abuse if they had "acted more aggressively and decisively on information they had."
After leaving Africa, Pruitt was an assistant pastor at the prominent Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, where two instances of abuse allegedly occurred.
Presbyterian leaders issued an apology to victims last week and are considering further policy changes to prevent abuse.