(RNS) — A former professor at a Georgia Baptist college is suing a Christian publication for defamation, saying he was falsely accused of sexual abuse.
Lawyers for Jeremy Lyon, who taught Old Testament and Hebrew at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia, alleged that Associated Baptist Press, known as Baptist News Global, published “fabricated” allegations of abuse against him in a pair of stories about an abuse scandal at the school.
According to the lawsuit, attorneys for Lyon said Baptist News Global failed to contact the professor before naming him in the June 2025 stories and that the publication “fabricated information to support the false and defamatory accusations” against Lyon. The professor “categorically denies” the allegations against him, according to the suit.
In an email, Mark Wingfield, editor of Baptist News Global, said the independent publication stands behind its reporting.
“BNG operates with the highest ethical standards of professional journalism,” he said in a statement published on the Baptist News Global website. “We have been at the forefront of covering sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention, and thus it is not surprising some would attempt to repudiate our witness. We stand ready to defend our work.”
The news stories in question reported that a law firm representing an alleged abuse victim had included abuse accusations about Lyon in a letter to the school’s leaders. The letter, according to BNG, primarily contained abuse allegations against Bradley Reynolds, a former vice president at Truett McConnell, and accused the school’s administration of covering up misconduct by Reynolds. Reynolds …