ATLANTA — Georgia state senators moved a bill that would strengthen criminal accountability for religious figures accused of sexual abuse one step closer to a full floor vote.
Senate Bill 542 passed the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously on Wednesday after sexual abuse survivors presented what senators called powerful testimony.
The bill would update Georgia’s criminal code to let members of the clergy be charged with sexual offenses when they use their “position of spiritual authority” to commit them.
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Bill sponsor Sen. Randy Robertson described a long-time pattern of spiritual authority being used to facilitate abuse, saying that must change.
“What we’ve experienced for many, many years here in the state of Georgia, is we have seen members of the clergy exploit their power and authority over individuals in their churches—females by the vast, vast majority,” Robertson said in a statement. “The ministers gain the trust of these ladies and manipulate that trust into a ‘distorted discipleship’ where by the time they turn around they’ve entered into a sexual relationship with this predator.”
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Robertson also said that survivors of sexual abuse by members of the clergy “often face significant barriers when seeking justice under current law.”
Saying the victims feel trapped in Georgia due to a lack of avenues for justice, Robertson said amendments were needed so they can pursue accountability against their abusers.
“Adult clergy sexual abuse does not begin with force — it begins with trust,” Hayle Swinson, a victim of clergy sexual abuse at Truett McConnell University, testified at the hearing. “A pastor. A mentor. A spiritual authority. Someone who says, ‘You can trust me. I am your safe place.’”
At the hearing, Swinson told lawmakers about how authority and faith are being used to groom victims and that the abusers are twisting scripture to justify their actions.
“Isolation is normalized. Boundaries are slowly eroded,” Swinson said. “What feels confusing and violating is reframed as obedience to God. This is not consent. This is coercion through power.”
She said at the hearing that current legal standards often do not account for the dynamics of using a spiritual or faith leadership position to manipulate abuse victims.
As written, SB 542 would change Georgia law to expressly include members of the clergy in the state’s improper sexual contact statute.
The legislation would remove consent as a legal defense in cases where clergy providing pastoral counseling or who are subject to a spiritual authority relationship and are engaged in sexually explicit conduct with those they are supposed to assist.
Nonprofit organization Clergy Law Reform said in a statement that the bill would make clergy have consistent enforcement options as other positions such as educators, therapists and members of law enforcement who commit abuse.
“We believe this legislation is needed in order to educate those in our churches and institutions regarding the responsibility of maintaining protection over both minors and adults related to sex abuse,” Mike Griffin, Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said.
Lawmakers said the bill has broad bipartisan support and are encouraging Georgians to contact their local legislators to support the bill.
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