Damaging new claims are coming from one of the four young men who claimed Bishop Eddie Long lured them into a sexual relationship when they were teenagers. Jamal Parris tells Fox5 Atlanta that some of their sexual encounters took place inside the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, where Long is the pastor, both before and after church services. Parris also alleges that he received jewelry, gifts and cash from church coffers, and that some church officials knew.
Fox5 interviewed Parris in Colorado, where he now lives. Parris told reporter Dale Russell that he had a father-son relationship with Long at first, then it turned sexual after he turned 16. He says life with Long was “almost like a drug.”
Bishop Eddie Long says he will fight the charges. His attorney maintains the allegations are not true, and warns his client should not be tried in the media.