Baptist college in Georgia removes president after inquiry into whether he ignored sexual abuse

CLEVELAND, Ga. (AP) — A Baptist college in northeast Georgia won’t reinstate its president after an investigation into whether he ignored claims that a former administrator was abusing students.

Trustees at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland announced Friday that Emir Caner won’t return. Caner had been on leave since June, when trustees hired an investigator to examine claims that a former administrator and professor sexually assaulted a woman who was a student and later a university employee. She claims she was repeatedly assaulted when she went to the man’s home for Bible study.

John Yarbrough, the director of alumni and public policy who was named acting president in June, will now become the interim president. Trustees said they were naming a committee to seek a permanent leader.

The action came after an investigator presented his findings to trustees Thursday. The university didn’t disclose those findings. In a news conference Friday, Yarbrough said details of Caner’s separation are still being negotiated.

“But I can tell you I’m interim president and Dr. Caner is no longer president of the university today,” Yarbrough said.

Southern Baptists have faced allegations that hundreds of church leaders and workers have abused people over the years and that the denomination hasn’t done enough to prevent abuse. At Truett McConnell, the case created an uproar among faculty and alumni. A rare public protest took place outside a trustee meeting in June demanding Caner’s removal.

Caner said in a video posted on social media after being placed on leave that it grieved him that “one of our own, one of our family, has been hurt in this way.” But he denied concealing or ignoring any assaults.

“While there was no cover-up, there was no Title IX filed or an HR complaint, there was no petition that ever came across my desk. We have to do better,” Caner said in the video.

The former student discussed her sexual assault allegations on a May 29 podcast. Truett McConnell issued a statement May 30, saying that it first became aware of the allegations in February 2024, when the administrator informed the university he was under investigation by the White County Sheriff’s Office “regarding an inappropriate relationship.”

The 3,100-student university says the administrator’s employment ended within days and that school leaders later learned that the administrator had sent “hundreds” of “sexually-explicit and theologically-twisted” emails from a personal account. Sheriff’s deputies concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to seek criminal charges, according to a report provided by the former student’s lawyer, Marcia Shein.

Opponents of Caner claim he retaliated against two administrators who pressed him on the allegations, pushing them out of their jobs. The school has denied any retaliation.

Shein wrote a letter to trustees about the allegations in February. But Shein has said the university knew about the claims well before 2024, citing an earlier petition by students to remove the administrator from teaching.

Shein has said the student hasn’t sued Truett McConnell because she is blocked by Georgia’s four-year statute of limitations on lawsuits. However, White County District Attorney Jeff Langley has said that he is taking a renewed look at the case.