Muscle Shoals children's minister convicted of sex abuse had little oversight from church, lawsuit says

By Kelly Kazek
AL.com
July 25, 2014

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2014/07/muscle_shoals_childrens_minist.html

Jeff Eddie being led from the Colbert County Courthouse after an appearance this morning Feb. 18, 2014.

COLBERT COUNTY, Alabama – A man who says he was a victim of Jeffrey Dale Eddie, a pastor convicted of sex abuse in March, is suing the Colbert County Church that employed Eddie as a children's minister.

According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, the unnamed victim named as defendants Eddie, Highland Park Baptist Church and Loving the Shoals United Appeal Fund, Inc., a non-profit group affiliated with the church. The suit claims church administrators waited 10 days after learning of the allegations of abuse before reporting them to authorities. The suit also claims the church is still paying salary and benefits to Eddie. No one was available at the church to answer questions this morning.

Read the full lawsuit below.

Eddie, 41, pleaded guilty in Colbert County Circuit Court to 36 counts of sex abuse and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Multiple victims came forward, authorities said.

The victim who filed the lawsuit, who is not named, says he was 11 years old when his abuse by Eddie began in 2001. The alleged victim says Eddie repeatedly touched him inappropriately until 2013. The incidents occurred at church events.

The lawsuit states: "Those acts of sexual abuse took place in various locations at Highland Park Baptist Church including Jeffrey Eddie's office and a storage closet attached to Jeffrey Eddie's closet. Those acts of sexual abuse also took place on Highland Park Baptist Church sponsored trips, including but not limited to, camp retreats at Earle Trent Assembly Camp and church sleepovers at Jeffrey Eddie's home. Further, the acts of sexual abuse took place while Jeffrey Eddie was driving the church van shuttling youth to Highland Park Baptist Church sponsored events."

The lawsuit alleges the church gave "little to no oversight, monitoring or supervision" into Eddie's activities, including these specifics:

• Eddie's office was isolated from other administrative offices;
• Eddie covered the only window in his office with a bulletin board to prevent anyone from looking in;
• Eddie closed the blinds on the door to his office and frequently locked the office door while children were inside;
• Eddie was given "sole control" of installing and monitoring church security cameras;
• The church provided Eddie with two cell phones including one with a separate billing record from other church phones and never monitored phone activity.

The plaintiff in the case alleges Eddie sexually abused him, assaulted him and falsely imprisoned him, leading to physical injury and mental anguish. He is seeking damages from Eddie and the church.