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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.

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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.

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