As reported by the Courthouse News Service, a personal injury lawsuit has been filed against the First Baptist Church of Canton for hiring a man first as an employee, and later, after sexual allegations were made and he was let go, rehiring him as a volunteer, that resulted in the man's further sexual misconduct with young male members of the church.
Along with the church, also named for their failure in protecting the child from harm are the church's senior pastor, Dr. G.A., church employee, S.F. and the alleged assailant, M.S.
The family has claimed in the suit that Dr. G.A. was aware of M.S.'s history of sexual misconduct with minors.
B.A. and C.A., the parents of the boy, claim that M.S. "…sexually abused multiple victims, while working for the Cherokee County Board of Education and through his employment and volunteer work with First Baptist. His continued sexual abuse was enabled by the negligent oversight of (M.S.) by defendant First Baptist, defendant Dr. (G.A.) and defendant (S.F.)"
B.A. and C.A. stated that both G.A. and S.F. were aware of M.S.'s sexual misconduct because they had met with other parents of alleged victims to discuss it. The suit explains, "Defendant(s)…met with parents of male students who attended Cherokee High School who reported that their children were receiving sexually explicit text messages from defendant (M.S.), who was also making suggestive remarks to male students."
B.A. and C.A. further claim that though the school ordered M.S. to cease and desist all text messaging to the students, the school failed to notify the school board of the situation. M.S., according to B.A and C.A., was later fired from the school. However, the grounds were listed as "insubordination" because M.S. had ignored the school's order and persisted in contacting the students via "sexually explicit text messages."
The family contends that though the church was well aware of M.S.'s continued attempts to contact "male high school students", they rehired him as a volunteer when they needed someone to work a sound system for their Bible School.
The complaint continued, "It was at that time that defendant (M.S.) initiated actions that led to his sexually abusing the plaintiffs' minor child by sending him text messages and making inappropriate remarks to the minor child."
However it was also at this time that the abuse became physical. The suit claims that on "June 14, 2010, when plaintiffs' minor child, while participating in a Bible school at First Baptist, Defendant (M.S.) committed sexual battery upon the Plaintiffs' minor child."
The child told his parents he no longer wished to attend Bible School, though he failed to explain why he had a change of heart, so instead the parents signed him up for an out-of-state beach excursion for the following week.
The church had allowed M.S. to also attend the beach trip. It was on this trip that M.S. had unsupervised access to the children. Following the trip the boy alerted both his mother and sister to the sexual battery. The boy's father alerted the police.
The family further contends that the church "attempted to downplay the abuse that occurred on the trip to the beach…" until another party spoke up.
Punitive damages, medical and psychological treatment costs and attorney's fees are sought.
If a member of the clergy or someone in their employ has abused you, or your child, you have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. Click here for our directory to contact a personal injury lawyer near you today.