Deborah Mansell
MUSCLE SHOALS – Highland Park Baptist Church is being sued. To say the least, 2014 has not been a great year for the venerable Muscle Shoals congregation.
Jeff Eddie – Colbert County Sheriff booking photo
First, in January, Youth Minister Jeffrey Dale Eddie’s long, sordid history of molesting children at the church was discovered. He is paying for his crime in prison with a 30 year sentence.
Two weeks ago, Church Secretary, Deborah mansell was arrested for theft and improper use of the church’s credit card, to the tune of about $129,000. She stands to do up to 20 years for her alleged crimes.
And on Tuesday of this week, a Birmingham law firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Louisiana man who accuses the church hierarchy of negligence, which allowed the sexual molestation to happen.
The lawyer, Erik Heninger, of Heninger Garrison Davis, LLC, said the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Western Division. The lawsuit alleges that church officials were negligent in the monitoring and supervision of Eddie, which facilitated the sexual abuse of the plaintiff.
