A Polk County Circuit Court jury awarded a $110 million verdict Wednesday to the family of a 9-month-old boy who suffered permanent blindness and brain damage in 2016 in an unlicensed

MENA, Ark. A Polk County jury has awarded more than $110 million to the parents of “Baby Owen,” nearly a decade after the 7-month-old suffered catastrophic injuries while in the care of an unlicensed Mena daycare. According to the family’s attorney, in February of 2016, Daniel and Mandy Ryals dropped off their healthy infant son at “Wendy’s Daycare.” Joseph Gates,...

The family of a 7-month-old infant who was seriously injured at an unlicensed daycare in Mena has been awarded a $110 million jury verdict. The jury also awarded $40,000 in punitive damages following a three-day trial in Polk County Circuit Court. The verdict is believed to be among the highest awarded in the state. The family was represented by lawyers...

Two lawsuits have been filed against historic Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, by plaintiffs who say they were sexually abused while under the care of church leaders. The lawsuit alleges that the abuse took place for years while church leaders were made aware but did nothing to stop it. Joseph Gates of the Gates Law Firm filed both...

Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., and its present and former leaders are named defendants in two lawsuits filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court Dec. 3. The Southern Baptist church has made headlines for more than a year now, amid allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a former assistant children’s minister and a volunteer youth leader. Former pastor...

Two people who say they were sexually abused as minors by adults affiliated with Immanuel Baptist Church filed separate lawsuits Tuesday against the Little Rock congregation, accusing it of negligence, negligent…

Two lawsuits have been filed against Immanuel Baptist Church on behalf of victims who allege that they were sexually abused while in the care of church leaders. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Two lawsuits have been filed against Immanuel Baptist Church on behalf of multiple victims who allege they were sexually abused while in the care of church leaders.

Patrick Stephen Miller, an ex-Immanuel Baptist Church children’s ministry staffer, was formally charged on Wednesday with sexual assault and kidnapping…

After a months-long saga of media coverage, internal infighting and an exodus of members and deacons, Pastor Steven Smith of Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock, Ark. tendered his resignation via a letter to his congregation last night. As previously reported by BNG, Immanuel Baptist is a prominent, wealthy and tall-steeple congregation where former Arkansas governor and U.S. President Bill...

A member of the board of deacons of Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) in Little Rock, Arkansas, has called for the resignation of senior pastor Steven Smith due to alleged years-long mishandling of sexual abuse by former church employees. In an 11-page letter, David Choate, a deacon at IBC since 2018, called on Smith to resign, stating the lead pastor has...

Hours after a newspaper published an article about abuse allegations within his Arkansas church, Dr. Steven Smith apologized for not telling his congregation about the reported crimes, which date back to 2015. Smith, who has led Immanuel Baptist Church—a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) church—in Little Rock since 2017, said a court filing prompted him to “publicly discuss this tragedy.”

In recent days the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has reported on the case of Patrick Stephen Miller, an intern at the church who later joined the staff as assistant director of children’s ministry.   Accusations from an elementary-age victim led to a charge of second-degree sexual assault against Miller that led to a plea deal in January 2022 to misdemeanor harassment. Miller also...

RECTOR, Ark. — A new lawsuit is alleging that an Arkansas school district failed to prevent a teacher from sexually harassing a 13-year-old student. The teacher, Sarah Isom, later pleaded guilty to sexual assault of the student. According to the lawsuit, officials at the Rector School District knew about Isom and the student’s inappropriate relationship months before the student was...