Tenn. lawmaker resigns in sex scandal

MEMPHIS, July 29 (UPI) -- A socially conservative lawmaker says he's resigning from the Tennessee legislature after admitting an affair with a college student.

State Sen. Paul Stanley, R-Germantown, told a Memphis radio station Tuesday he will step down from the state senate, where he's chairman of the Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee, effective Aug. 10, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported.

The resignation comes after Stanley, who is married, was named as the victim in an alleged extortion plot that revolved around nude photos of 22-year-old Austin Peay University student McKensie Morrison, who interned in his office. The newspaper said Stanley acknowledged in an interview with WREC-AM, Memphis, that he had an affair with Morrison, but defended his record of condemning sex outside of marriage.

"Whatever I stood for and advocated I still believe to be true," Stanley told the broadcaster. "Just because I fell short of God's standard … doesn't mean that God's standard is reduced."

The Tennessean said Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris has acknowledged state Republican leaders had been working to persuade Stanley to resign.