U.S. Southern Baptists release scathing report on sexual abuse - Reuters

Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, were either ignored or covered up by top clergy, according to an internal report released on Sunday.

"In service to this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved," the report said, with church leaders covering up accusations and allowing accused clergy members to remain pastors or in other positions of authority.

The Southern Baptist Church Convention claims more than 13 million members in the United States and more than 40 million worldwide.

The scandal echoes the one faced by the Roman Catholic Church, which has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse, when the Boston Globe newspaper revealed in 2002 that church hierarchy covered up sexual misconduct by its clergy for decades.