by Jerry Grillo
and Denise Etheridge
White County News
Days after sex abuse allegations shook Truett McConnell University (TMU) in Cleveland, the scandal was still unfolding as former students came forward with new accusations and the school’s trustees prepared to meet on Friday, possibly to determine the future of TMU President Emir Caner, among other things. Meanwhile, an investigation into the alleged abuse by a former TMU vice president may soon be revived.
“Things are in flux and there’s a lot for the trustees to talk about,” said B. Miles Hannan, a TMU trustee who lives in Valdosta. “We’ve got 24 trustees, so that’s 24 opinions to consider.”
They’ll likely consider the allegations made by Hayle Swinson in a story released Thursday on the investigative news website julieroys.com. Swinson, a former student-athlete and TMU employee, accused longtime administrator Bradley Reynolds of grooming and abusing her under the guise of spiritual mentorship.
Her account, supported by hundreds of emails and a 57-page dossier, alleges years of psychological manipulation, sexual abuse, and institutional neglect at the 79-year-old private Baptist college, which operates under the umbrella of the Georgia Baptist Convention.
According to Swinson’s attorney, Marcia Shein, her client isn’t alone.
“There are at least nine other women who are still too afraid to come forward,” said Shein. “Hayle’s goal has always been to help others.”
Meanwhile, some current and former students have spoken up, sharing their stories on social media, or with the White County News. Many are calling for accountability after it was revealed that Caner failed to respond to the rumors surrounding Reynolds’ behavior, despite multiple warnings.
TMU students have launched a Change.org petition calling on the Board of Trustees to launch an independent investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse, the university’s response, and possible systemic failures (including alleged administrative retaliation against whistleblowers).
“The president needs to be fired, without question,” said a student employee at the Student Wellness Center. “None of this stuff was a secret.”
At least one other former TMU student has also made allegations of sexual abuse on campus. Kim Gordon Creech, who also worked at the university, said she was abused in 2013 by a senior staff member, her supervisor. She reported the behavior to human resources, and the employee was quietly placed under the supervision of another administrator — Reynolds.
“I felt like leadership had little regard for my abuse and well-being,” Creech said. “Looking back, I regret not speaking louder. But I now know my story was just the tip of the iceberg.”
FESTERING SCANDAL
As of Wednesday, more than 2,150 people have signed the Change.org petition, the latest effort by TMU students to be heard by administrators. In 2019, a student named Brynna Frantz created a petition signed by at least 50 women who complained about Reynolds’ behavior.
They were objecting to his theology class. Students were required to write testimonies about past trauma, then meet privately with Reynolds in his office. These meetings often involved praying with him, and sometimes more. According to former student athlete Abbey Thompson Booke, the purpose of the petition was, “to prevent him from teaching the theology class, or to give students permission to refuse those private meetings.”
She remembers a closed-door meeting after quitting the TMU soccer team. Head coach David McDowell encouraged her to speak with Reynolds, then the vice president of academic services.
“He brought me into his office, closed the door, and held my hand while praying. He also complimented me on how pretty my hair looked,” said Booke. Other women reported similar meetings, during which Reynolds touched their knees or back.
Swinson’s experience apparently went farther and lasted for years. She enrolled at TMU in 2009 as an 18-year-old sophomore. She soon got to know Reynolds. Swimming pool parties for the team at his family home (he was married with children) were, “a mandatory team bonding event,” according to Booke. “It wasn’t optional. We were required to go.”
Reynolds sent hundreds of emails and texts to Swinson during her time at TMU — first, when she was a student athlete, and later when she was an assistant soccer coach. Many of his messages held to a recurring theme: their relationship was God’s will, even though Reynolds was still married. “God really has used you to give me life,” he wrote in an email from March 2015, that also describes sex dreams he had about her.
According to attorney Marcia Shein, Reynolds spent years maneuvering Swinson.
“First he wanted to hold her hand and pray, then he started rubbing her back, eventually working his way up to touching her under her shorts,” she said. “He was using Bible verses to manipulate her into thinking that this was, in fact, what God wanted.”
TMU employees recognized what they saw as an unhealthy relationship between Reynolds and the significantly younger Swinson, first when she was a student and later when she was an employee. Staffers reportedly began speaking up to Caner and administrators by 2016.
“The relationship divided the campus, and it was part of the reason I was let go,” said Bryan Wisdom, former director of Student Development, who was fired in 2022 after expressing his frustration.
His separation notice, delivered in early February that year, accused him of “spreading rumors and gossip,” he said. “That had never been the case. But if you brought up anything negative — anything that wasn’t sunshine — you were labeled a malcontent. There was a culture of fear and intimidation.”
Wisdom was among several employees fired that year, reportedly for speaking out about the culture of discomfort Reynolds had fostered. This included a 2018 “sex sermon,” which has recently been posted on social media and shared widely.
During the sermon, Reynolds exclaims what he saw as a wife’s duty in keeping her husband faithful: “Look good!” He also weighed in on the wife’s role on the honeymoon night: “Stand when he tells you to stand, say what he tells you to say, do what he tells you to do.”
Swinson, who has said she’s suffered emotional trauma from the personal abuse and eventually became suicidal, left her job at TMU in 2018, ending contact with Reynolds.
She reported the abuse in February 2024 to the White County Sheriff’s Office, and an investigation was launched. Reynolds denied any wrongdoing, including the hundreds of emails, but forensic analysis contradicted his claims, and he was eventually fired or allowed to resign shortly after. Even though investigators determined that he’d lied about his involvement with Swinson, no charges were filed — in part, because the statute of limitations had expired.
New Investigation?
When Reynolds was questioned by the White County Sheriff’s Office last year, he became angry and defensive.
“He initially denied any of the accusations, denied the emails, and basically got up and walked out of the interview,” recalled Sheriff Rick Kelley.
Investigators were able to collect his phone and look at its contents. They found more than 300 emails and, “hundreds and hundreds of text messages,” between Reynolds and Swinson, according to Kelley, revealing a long-term relationship that included Reynolds giving Swinson access to his home and credit cards.
The sheriff expressed frustration that his office couldn’t pursue charges due to a legal technicality. Investigators wanted to use the “improper sexual contact” law, a section of the Georgia Code that addresses such contact by a person in a position of trust.
“We couldn’t apply the code as we had hoped,” Kelley said, noting that the code specifically defines schools as kindergarten through 12th grade — colleges are not considered a school per the code, a legal definition that left the sheriff’s office without a clear path to criminal charges against Reynolds.
But that may be changing. Kelley said his office has, “resent the case file over to the district attorney’s office, asking them to go through and review it again,” to potentially find new evidence or a way to pursue charges. The sheriff suggested that the law should be expanded to provide legal protection for college students.
TMU grad Kim Gordon Creech still feels bad about not reporting the abuse she suffered more than 10 years ago.
“I was going through a spiritually difficult journey at the time. I felt like I had no power to speak up,” said Creech, a registered nurse. She wonders if she’d spoken up, “would things have been different for many young women who stepped on TMU’s campus and fell victim to self-proclaimed ‘men of God?’ Would Hayle’s abuse have stopped if I had spoken up?”
She’s learned to get past the regrets and blames TMU’s leadership for the abuse, and for ignoring it. But those feelings bubbled up again early this year, when she first heard from Swinson’s legal team and learned of the investigation.
“Sometimes we think we’ve dealt with a problem, only to find we learned to survive alongside it,” Creech said. “My level of abuse in no way compares with Hayle’s. But I believe this unveiling has already brought, and will continue to bring, peace to my life.”
The News reached out to Caner, who has been unavailable for comment. Most trustees did not return emails and some hung up on reporters when reached by telephone. Only Hannan responded briefly.
“We’ve got to figure out what the appropriate response is for TMU, and what direction to move in,” he said. “We’ll know more on Friday.”
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
2008
• Emir Caner becomes TMU’s eighth president in August.
2009
• In July, Bradley Reynolds is hired as TMU’s vice president of academic services.
• In August, Hayle Swinson enrolls at TMU as an 18-year old sophomore.
2009-2011
• According to the Roys Report, Reynolds establishes his habit of consistently meeting with the women’s soccer team.
2013
• On August 21, Reynolds emails Swinson, “I will pour my life into you as God wants me to so you can do great things.” He claims, “God gave us our friendship but others [head soccer coach David McDowell] may not understand it and thus please keep this between us.”
2015
• On March 21, Reynolds emails to Swinson, “I know my sweet wife will get to heaven before me, and I know I will need someone to help with my kids.”
• A March 30 message from Reynolds indicates that marriage (to Swinson), “is guaranteed, and a commitment is given, but the consummation must wait for another day.”
• On May 13, Reynolds sends an email describing sex dreams he had about Swinson.
2016
• Jonathan Morris, TMU Title IX Coordinator, informs President Caner that Hayle Swinson entered Reynolds’ home at lunchtime.
• A Nov. 1 email from Reynolds to Swinson supports Morris’ observation, and claims Caner promises that such gossip will get the person who said it fired (Morris is eventually fired, years later).
2018
• Hayle ends contact with Reynolds and leaves job at TMU.
2019
• TMU student Brynna Frantz creates a petition signed by 50 women, asking that Reynolds not be allowed to teach his theology class; the signed petition is delivered to Morris and Chris Eppling (vice president of student services; both men are eventually fired).
2020
• Morris is fired, reportedly for financial misconduct, though he claims it was for raising red flags about the Reynolds-Swinson relationship.
2022
• Employees Chris Eppling, Bryan Wisdom, and Megan Fuller are all fired, allegedly for raising red flags about Reynolds and Swinson. ”The relationship divided the campus,” Wisdom said.
2024
• On February 29, Swinson files a police report at the White County Sheriff’s Office.
• On March 1, Reynolds is interviewed by the sheriff’s office and relinquishes his phone; hundreds of emails and texts to Swinson are found, though he’s denied having a relationship with Swinson. Reynolds is placed on leave and soon resigns from TMU.
• On May 9, the sheriff’s office closes the case.
2025
• On May 29, the Roys Report releases its investigative story about TMU.