CANTON (GA)
Courthouse News Service
By LISA COSTON
CANTON, Ga. (CN) – A Baptist Church failed to protect a boy from a church volunteer who sexually assaulted him, though the senior pastor knew of the man’s history of sexual misconduct with minors, the boy’s parents claim in court.
Brian and Carmen Aaron sued the First Baptist Church of Canton, its senior pastor George Anderson, church employee Shawn Finch, and the alleged assailant, Matthew Brent Sheffield, in Cherokee County Superior Court.
“Defendant Sheffield sexually abused multiple victims, while working for the Cherokee County Board of Education and through his employment and volunteer work with First Baptist,” according to the complaint. “His continued sexual abuse was enabled by the negligent oversight of Sheffield by defendant First Baptist, defendant Dr. George Anderson and defendant Shawn Finch.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.