SHERMAN, Texas – A court date has been set for a trial involving former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson and the seminary and an alleged sexual abuse survivor. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan set the trial date for April 3, 2023.

A former SWBTS student, named in court documents as Jane Roe, filed suit against the seminary and Patterson in March 2019 alleging negligence, violation of privacy and liability.

Roe’s lawsuit recounts that she was forcibly raped at gunpoint on at least three occasions from October 2014 through April 2015 by a fellow student identified as “John Doe,” whom Roe said was employed as a plumber at SWBTS.

Neither the seminary nor Patterson disputed the rapes but did dispute numerous allegations in the suit involving the student’s interactions with Patterson and other seminary staff.

Patterson’s court response stated that he “was not a cause, the cause, the sole cause, a proximate cause, the sole proximate cause, or a contributing cause of any injuries or damages claimed by Roe.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE – This article was written by a Baptist Press staff member.)