GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A lawyer for the Georgia statehouse lobbyist accused in a child sex abuse lawsuit said his client “has done absolutely nothing wrong.”
Matthew Stanley claims that Jim E. Collins abused him numerous times over the course of several years, as recently as 2002. Collins was a youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Vidalia. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Toombs County.
The suit is one of the first filed since the passage this year of House Bill 17, the Hidden Predator Act. The bill created a two-year window during which victims of past abuse can file civil claims against their alleged abuser, even if the statute of limitations has expired.
Collins’ attorney, Kendall Gross of Metter, said his client “denies any wrongdoing, period.”
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