'Sheriff: Former camp director facing sex charges kills himself '

Former director of a Southern Baptist summer youth camp, the Cale Retreat and Conference Center in Hertford, N.C., Stephen Wayne Carter, apparently committed suicide Monday night. Perquimans County Sheriff Eric Tilley said Carter was found in Virginia Beach, Va., where he owned property.

Facing felony sex offense charges with regard to three different victims, Carter was free on "$80,000 bond on two counts each of engaging in sexual activities with a child, felony first-degree sex offense of a child and felony indecent liberties with a child. If convicted of the most serious offense he could have faced life in prison."

Suicide is not a confession and his family and friends deserve our support. Even so, reasonable institutional determinations should still be made about whether the alleged victims are indeed that, so that anyone who has a resulting need for therapeutic support can receive it.

As Christa Brown told the Associated Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention "should conduct a professional assessment of the allegations and should pro-actively reach out to provide assistance to any who may have been wounded, whether here in the United States or in Belize, where Carter previously worked for the International Mission Board."