February 21, 2025
‘Each particular person has a breaking level. I’ve reached mine.’
Megachurch pastor and standard non secular chief T.D. Jakes is combating again in opposition to claims of sexual assault from former pastors in a brand new defamation lawsuit, The Christian Put up reviews.
In a movement to dismiss the litigation, Jakes and his authorized crew are “aggressively” difficult his accuser’s credibility in a submitting that features an eight-page affidavit from the pastor claiming the claims made in opposition to him are “malicious lies.”
Former pastor Duane Youngblood and pastor Richard Edwin Youngblood have accused Jakes of sexually assaulting them after they have been youthful.
Richard Edwin Youngblood claims the Potter’s Home founder allegedly tried to sexually assault him whereas the 2 shared a resort room throughout a ministry journey years in the past.
“He secured a room with two beds in it, and we went to the room for the night time. That night time, whereas I used to be mendacity in my mattress, I felt Elder Jakes climb into my mattress. He pressed his physique in opposition to mine and requested, ‘Youngblood, do you are feeling that?’ He was referencing his erection that he was urgent in opposition to my bottom,” Youngblood wrote in his affidavit.
“I acquired up away from bed in full shock as he additionally [got] up from the alternative facet and met me. He grabbed me by my arms, and pulled me to him and began attempting to kiss me. At this level, I can’t consider what is going on to me.”
In accordance with Houston Chron, Duane Youngblood, now 58, is accusing Jakes of assaulting him in a non-public dwelling, writing in an announcement, “As I ready to go away, he pulled me shut and tried to kiss me.” The pastor, Youngbood added, known as him the next day. “He wished me to be the one particular person he had a sexual relationship with when he got here to city.”
Within the affidavit, the Dallas-based religion chief denied all of the claims that “describe conditions the place I harbored carnal wishes for these males. These statements are knowingly and flagrantly false,” Jakes stated within the doc.
Duane Youngblood alleged in a movement that since going public and showing on the Larry Reid Stay YouTube speak present, Jakes and members of his crew “have engaged in retaliatory conduct to silence him.”
Jakes and his son, Jermaine, deny the allegations.
“For years, I’ve been recommended to disregard the fixed stream of low-level smears in opposition to my fame. Nevertheless, the emotional and bodily toll of this coordinated marketing campaign of lies, designed to wreck my fame and legacy, has turn out to be overwhelming,” the elder Jakes stated.
“The ache it has triggered my spouse of 43 years and my 5 youngsters, whom I’ve at all times beloved, nurtured, and offered for, is just too a lot to bear,” Jakes added. “Each particular person has a breaking level. I’ve reached mine. I approved this lawsuit as a result of I can now not stay silent.”
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