Florida Baptist Convention vows to appeal $12.5 million jury award in sex-molestation case

A Florida Baptist Convention attorney said today that the group will appeal a Lake County jury's decision to award a 21-year-old man $12.5 million in damages for being sexually abused by a Baptist minister when he was a child.

Spokeswoman Barbara Denman said the minister, Douglas W. Myers, wasn't an "employee" of the convention and instead served as a "church planter" who assisted in starting churches and received a stipend from the church. Denman said the organization provides stipends to churches, which then made decisions on hiring.

"What we do is we provide money to the church, and our churches hire whoever they want to hire," she said.

Convention attorney Gary Yeldell said in a statement that post-trial motions and appeals "will be forthcoming."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-reaction-florida-baptist-convention-molest-20140121,0,4803103.story