Bishop Eddie Long settles sex scandal out of court

Bishop Eddie Long, the Atlanta-based megachurch leader, has reached an out-of-court settlement with four young men who accused him of sexual coercion, representatives for both sides said Thursday.

B.J. Bernstein, the lawyer representing the men, said in a statement that the lawsuits against Long and his church have “been resolved.”

Bernstein’s two-paragraph statement said that neither she nor the accusers would talk about the lawsuits “now or in the future.”

Art Franklin, a Long spokesman, announced Thursday that the pastor settled because it “is the most reasonable road for everyone to travel.”

“This decision was made to bring closure to this matter and to allow us to move forward with the plans God has for this ministry,” Franklin said in a statement.

Long is an internationally known televangelist who crusaded against gay marriage, and the lawsuits against him drew national attention.

The settlement comes eight months after Long, the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Church in Lithonia, Georgia, said from the pulpit of his 25,000 member megachurch that he vowed to fight the accusations against him, with the congregation cheering in response.

Long entered into mediation talks in February. According to news reports, the sessions between Long and his four accusers – Anthony Flagg, Maurice Robinson, Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande – were tense.

The suits accused Long of using his position to coerce the men into having sexual relationships with him while they were teenage members of his congregation.

The lawsuits say Long engaged in intimate sexual acts with the young men, such as massages, masturbation and oral sex.

Long took the young men on trips including to Kenya, according to the suits. He allegedly enticed the young men with gifts including cars, clothes, jewelry and electronic items.

Long’s attorneys deny those allegations and maintain that the pastor was attempting to be a father figure to the youths by providing them with financial assistance and encouragement.

Though no trial will now take place, Long may face the judgment of his congregation and fans worldwide.

Shayne Lee, a sociology professor at Tulane University in Louisiana and an authority on televangelists, said Long’s out of court settlement may erode some of his support.

“When you settle outside of court, it implies that there’s some guilt involved,” said Lee, author of “Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace.”

“To the average congregation in the black church, those are some very serious charges,” Lee said, referring to the men’s charges against Long. “You can’t settle outside of court. You have to fight and roll up your sleeves, be defiant and fight it.”

Since the scandal had erupted, attendance at Long’s church had fallen, and New Birth officials have announced plans to lay off staff and cut Long’s salary.

But Lee said it would be premature to think that Long will retreat from the pulpit.

“He can say ‘I still have my anointing and I still have my ministry,’ ’’ Lee said. “He can say that God is working out the weeds so that the tree has a stronger foundation.”

The four men’s accusations stunned many of Long’s followers. A married man, Long had often preached about the sanctity of marriage. He once led a march against gay marriage.

Long had also cultivated a public image that was built on his machismo. He wore tight muscle shirts in the pulpit. He wrote books that compared Christian men to spiritual gladiators. He told people he had a special calling to reach men.

One Atlanta pastor predicted Long will survive the scandal because his core audience will forgive him.

“Black folks have very short memories,” said the Rev. Tim McDonald, senior pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. “We are the most forgiving people on the planet.”

McDonald, who said he has talked privately with Long since the scandal erupted, said Long “went into a shell” after the accusations against him went public.

Before the scandal erupted, Long would often publicly criticize other black pastors, and once said they “major in storefront buildings,” suggesting that they lacked the business acumen to build a megachurch like he had.

But Long had shown a different public face lately, McDonald said. His entourage wasn’t as big; he was more visible in the community.

“I found him opening up,” McDonald said. “If he can pick that back up and humble himself and stop saying things like, ‘I ain’t just another chicken-eating preacher,’ he’ll survive.”

Lee, the Tulane sociologist, said Long will remain in the pulpit for another reason.

“This is what he knows,” Lee said. “He’s not going to be able to sell insurance or cars. He’s cocky. He’s confident. He believes in redemption.”

CNN contributed to this report.

Settlement talks with Bishop Eddie Long Stalled

Bishop Eddie Long gracing the cover of popular gospel magazine causes quite a stir

The settlement negotiations in lawsuits against Bishop Eddie Long were speeding along but appear top have stalled.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia is still facing liability for allegedly coercing four young men into having sexual relations with the megachurch leader.

Last year,  Maurice Robinson, Jamal Parris, Anthony Flagg and Spencer LeGrande sued Long, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and the LongFellows Youth Academy, alleging sexual misconduct on the part of the bishop. The four allege that Long took them on trips and gave them expensive gifts in turn for sexual favors.

On September 21 and 22, 2010, Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg, and Jamal Parris filed separate lawsuits in DeKalb County Superior Court alleging that Long used his pastoral influence to coerce them into a sexual relationship with him. In June, one of the accusers, 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 September 24, Spencer LeGrande, a member of a New Birth satellite church in Charlotte, North Carolina, filed a similar suit, making him the fourth man to file a lawsuit claiming sexual misconduct by Long.

The plaintiffs state that Long placed the men on the church’s payroll, bought them cars and other gifts, and took them separately on trips to destinations such as Kenya, South Africa, Turks and Caicos Islands, Trinidad, Honduras, New Zealand, and New York City. The lawsuits read “Long would discuss the Holy Scripture to justify and support the sexual activity.” Flagg’s suit claims that Long presided over a “covenant” ceremony between the two of them. Flagg’s attorney said “it was essentially a marriage ceremony, with candles, exchange of jewelry, and biblical quotes.”

The parties have been involved in mediation.

The judge,  Hon. Johnny Panos, told a local news station in Atlanta that he is scheduling trial for late summer, the TV station reported Thursday. The threat of a trial appears to conflict with an earlier statement by the court.

Around Easter, Panos said that the major obstacles to settlement had been resolved and that the parties were discussing the minutiae.

The mediator in the case is Gino Brogdon, a former Fulton County Superior Court judge, according to Panos. Mediation is alternative to a trial, which can be costly and lengthy. Their outcomes are also uncertain going into proceedings.

Art Franklin, the church’s  spokesman declined to comment when reached by the AJC on Thursday.

According to Blackvoices, Long’s target audience- black Christians,  are not happy that Bishop Long,  feeling that he has been given what they see as,’preferential treatment’ while ‘down-playing the charges against him.

This is not Long’s first brush with the law. On August 28, 2005 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that during the period between 1997 to 2000, Long received more than $3.07 million worth of compensation and benefits from his eponymous non-profit charity, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries Inc. Long contended that the charity did not solicit donations from members but instead gained its income from royalties, speaking fees and several large donations. In 2007, Senator Chuck Grassley announced an investigation into the tax-exempt status of six ministries under the leadership of Benny Hinn, Paula White,  Eddie L. Long, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland by the United States Senate Committee on Finance.

As far as the sexual allegations, Long has denied the allegations through his attorneys and spokesman, and said, “I have devoted my life to helping others and these false allegations hurt me deeply,” he said. “But my faith is strong and the truth will emerge. All I ask for is your patience as we continue to categorically deny each and every one of these ugly charges.”