Bishop Eddie Long Responds To Young Accusers
|
The day after an Atlanta rally calling for his resignation, embattled megachurch bishop Eddie Long formally responded to allegations that he engaged in sexual relationships with four young men. In the documents filed late yesterday afternoon in Dekalb County State Court, Long admitted that he took the former New Birth Missionary Baptist Church members on trips, but he denied ever seducing them. Long said he occasionally shared a room with members of his congregation, but the claims of sexual misconduct "are not true." Long said he mentored the men and that they, like other members of his church, called him "daddy," "bishop" and "granddaddy," according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg, Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande – all now in their early twenties – claim Long seduced them when they were teens (from 16 to 18 years of age) attending his church.