A libel case brought against the Baptist Standard, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and other parties by church-starter Otto Arango has been settled.
Judge Bobby Flores of the 139th Judicial District Court in Hidalgo County dismissed the suit after mediation.
Arango claimed defamation based on a 2006 independent investigation by the BGCT and articles reporting on it. The investigation concluded 98 percent of the 258 churches Arango and his colleagues started in South Texas—for which they received more than $1.3 million in BGCT funds—no longer existed, and some were “phantom” churches that never existed.
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Otto Arango
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In his suit, Arango claimed more than $3 million in damages. The Baptist Standard’s portion of the settlement totaled $9,500. Settlement amounts involving other parties were confidential.
“We have said all along the Baptist Standard’s coverage of the BGCT investigation into church-starting practices in the Valley was accurate, thorough and fair,” Editor Marv Knox said.
“We stand behind all our stories about this investigation. We have denied and continue to deny any liability to Dr. Arango.”
The Standard filed a motion for summary judgment that included deposition testimony by Arango confirming that the Standard accurately reported on the BGCT investigation and its aftermath. Arango opposed the motion, contending that readers were left with a misleading impression that he was under investigation for criminal activity. The court denied the motion by the Standard and ordered the case to mediation.
In the final settlement, Arango and his attorneys released all claims against the Standard and agreed to dismiss the suit.
“While the Standard would have preferred not to spend any more of our insurance company’s funds, we concur with our attorney and insurance representative that this settlement is a sound business decision,” Knox said. The settlement costs were less than anticipated expenses from the next round of legal expenses, which would have been an appeal to have the case dismissed on summary judgment.
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“We were happy to save the insurance company some money,” he said. “We also were relieved to remove this distraction, so we can focus more of our attention on telling the story of God’s work across Texas and around the world.”
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