Tom Joyner Morning Show Appearance Too Much for Bishop Eddie Long, Sends Lawyer Instead
ATLANTA (CBS/AP) Bishop Eddie Long canceled an interview with the Tom Joyner Morning Show Thursday, opting instead to make his first public response to the sex allegations during a service at his 25,000-member Atlanta-area megachurch on Sunday, according to his lawyer, who appeared on the nationally syndicated radio show in Long's absence.
Attorney Craig Gillen told Joyner that Long took young men on trips as part of a mentoring program, but stands by his denial of claims that he had sex with three of them.
In lawsuits filed this week, three men who were members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church claimed Long coerced them into sexual relations with gifts including cars, cash and travel when they were 17 or 18 years old. The sprawling church in Lithonia, Ga., about 18 miles outside of Atlanta, counts politicians, celebrities and the county sheriff among its members and hosted four U.S. presidents during the 2006 funeral of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King.
One of the claims in the lawsuits is that Long had sexual contact with the young men, who were enrolled in New Birth's ministry for teen boys, during trips he took them on in the U.S. and abroad. Gillen said the travel was part of a mentoring program that other young men also participated in.
"The mentoring process involving travel is not exclusive to the three plaintiffs making these allegations," Gillen said.
Gillen also read a statement from Long in which the pastor, a married father of four, said he's anxious to respond to the allegations but that his lawyer has advised him not to yet.
"Let me be clear. The charges against me and New Birth are false," Long's statement said.
Gillen also said the three making the allegations were motivated by money, adding that one of them is accused of breaking into Long's office.
In addition to canceling the radio show appearance, an expected Thursday news conference with Long was also called off.
Gillen said Long will speak directly about the allegations to his church congregation Sunday.
Full Coverage of Bishop Eddie Long on Crimesider
