Last Updated On: 9/22/2010 3:35:39 PM
LITHONIA, GA -- A third person has come forward accusing Bishop Eddie Long of exploiting his role as pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch to coerce them into sexual relationships.
Maurice Robinson, 20, and Anthony Flagg, 21, filed a civil lawsuit against Long on Tuesday. They has been members of Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia.
No details are yet available about the third accuser.
Robinson and Flagg say they were only 17 and 18 when Long abused his spiritual authority to seduce them with cars, money, clothes, jewelry, international trips and access to celebrities.
Each filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday. Their attorney, B.J. Bernstein, held a press conference shortly afterward.
Bernstein described the young men's enrollment in the Longfellow Youth Academy where they ascended to the elite group of young men known as Bishop Long's "Spiritual Sons".
According to Robinson's written complaint "...Long typically engages in a private spiritual ceremony described as a 'covenant' between himself and each young Spiritual Son..."
"[Long] would use biblical stories to talk about how important it was to follow your leader and master and let them know that the acts they were engaging in did not mean they were homosexual," Bernstein said.
She added that Long told them he was simply "releasing
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Mr. Long...you are going down baby!!!!!
CNN) -- Two Georgia men have filed a lawsuit claiming that prominent Atlanta, Georgia, pastor Eddie Long coerced them into sex.
The suits, filed Tuesday in DeKalb County, Georgia, allege that Long used his position as a spiritual authority and bishop to coerce young male members and employees of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church into sex.
A spokesman for Long told CNN on Wednesday that the allegations are "a case of retaliation and a shakedown for money by men with some serious credibility issues."
Long "categorically and adamantly denies these allegations," said spokesman Art Franklin.
"Defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship," the suits allege.
Long is considered one of the nation's top black preachers. His church has more 25,000 members, according to the suit, and was the site of Coretta Scott King's 2006 funeral, attended by then-President George W. Bush and three previous presidents. King was the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The pastor took one plaintiff, Anthony Flagg, 21, on overnight trips to a half-dozen American cities in recent years, Flagg's suit alleges.
Video: Spokesman denies claims Video: Sexual coercion lawsuit announced
"Long shared a bedroom and engaged in intimate sexual contact with plaintiff Flagg including kissing, massaging, masturbating of plaintiff Flagg by defendant Long and oral sexual contact," the suit says.
Long took the other plaintiff, Maurice Murray Robinson, 20, to Auckland, New Zealand, in October 2008 for his 18th birthday and engaged in oral sex with him, Robinson's suit alleges.
"Following the New Zealand Trip, Defendant Long regularly engaged in sexual touching, and other sexual acts with Plaintiff Robinson," Robinson's suit alleges.
"It is very unfortunate that someone has taken this course of action," Franklin, Long's spokesman, said Tuesday. "Our law firm will be able to respond once attorneys have had an opportunity to review the lawsuit."
Long frequently denounces homosexual behavior. A 2007 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center's magazine called him "one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement."
"Everybody knows that a bishop or church pastor ... cannot have any sort of sexual relations or sexual relationship with one of your parishioners," the lawyer, B.J. Bernstein, said at a news conference Tuesday evening. "And even worse to have it with two young men who trusted him and got to know him at a very young age."
Bernstein said she has alerted federal authorities about the allegations.
In June, Robinson was arrested and charged with burglary in connection with a break-in to Long's office. An iPhone, iPad and other items -- more than $1,300 worth -- were taken from the office, according to the police report.
On Tuesday, Bernstein said the theft was Robinson's attempt to retaliate against the pastor. She said that once Robinson began telling others about his experience with Long, "he realized he wasn't the only one."
"It made [Robinson] angry," she said.
Both plaintiffs said the pastor, his church and church employees gave them cash and lavish gifts that ranged from cars to college tuition.
The suits also said that Long framed the sexual relationships as religious in nature.
The suits allege that Long chose the plaintiffs to be his "Spiritual Sons," a program that allegedly includes other young men from the church.
"Spiritual Sons are taken on public and private jets to U.S. and international destinations, housed in luxury hotels and given access to numerous celebrities including entertainment stars and politicians," the suit alleges.
Flagg moved into a home owned by another New Birth pastor when he was a high school junior, according to the suit, where Long would sometimes share a bed with him. Flagg was eventually put on the church's payroll, his suit alleges, with Long personally delivering his checks.
Flagg's suit says that Long presided over a spiritual "covenant" ceremony between the two of them.
"It was essentially a marriage ceremony, with candles, exchange of jewelry, and biblical quotes," Bernstein said Tuesday. "The bishop [told] him I will always have your back and you will always have mine."
Robinson's suit alleges that "Defendant Long would use Holy Scripture to discuss and justify the intimate relationship between himself and Plaintiff Robinson."
The lawsuits are seeking unspecified amounts of punitive damages from Long on various counts, ranging from negligence to breach of fiduciary duty.
The suits allege that various staff members working for Long, his church and the Longfellows Academy -- which the suit describes as an offshoot ministry of New Birth -- "knew of Defendant Long's sexually inappropriate conduct and did nothing to warn or protect [the plaintiffs]."
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Really Karen Clark? Really? Is this what we are doing?
The previous stops have been plagued with low attendance and cries of (false) attacks by gay marriage proponents. Dr. Alveda King, niece of civil rights icon Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has agreed to speak during the Atlanta stop on the tour scheduled for August 7, 2010 at the state capitol.
But it looks as if NOM is saving the coup de grace for the last stop on their hate tour with a special performance by Grammy winning gospel star Karen Clark Sheard. Yep, you read right.
Sheard is known for her amazing vocal ability and multi-octave range. A former member of the gospel group The Clark Sisters, Sheard and her siblings are often credited for blending the sound of popular music with gospel, most notably on the 80's hit "You Brought The Sunshine". Sheard's brand of gospel music along with her daughter's, gospel sensation Kiera Sheard is no stranger to gays and lesbians and can be frequently heard inside gay clubs.
If there was any doubt regarding where Sheard stood on LGBT rights, despite being apart of an industry and a religious denomination overflowing with gay and lesbian people, her upcoming performance in support of stripping a segment of the American population of their civil rights will deliver a strong answer.
It never fails that large (mostly white) anti-gay organizations will always find a person of color to help promote their agenda, and because so many of us think we've already overcome and our rights as African-Americans won't be up for popular vote next we take the bait. Karen Clark Sheard's participation in NOM's hate rally...and that's exactly what it is no matter how they try to disguise it... is a disgrace!
Karen you don't have to agree with gay marriage simply don't have one. You can cite your religious beliefs as reason why you disagree with marriage equality, but your religious beliefs should in no way dictate the laws in a secular society that will create two classes of people, those who have full equality and protections under the law and those who do not.
It's a sad day when a voice that has the power to heal and unite people is being used as a weapon of mass destruction, but of course in the most loving hypocritically Christian way possible. Love the sinner but hate the sin, right?
Sheard was scheduled to perform on August 15, 2010 at 2PM on the Capitol Steps in Washington, DC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)