Megapastor Eddie Long has settled complaints with four young men formerly in his ministry who were suing him for sexual misconduct, CBS Atlanta reports:
Long chose not to fight in court. Instead he reached a settlement and paid off the four young men who accused the mega-church preacher of using his power to influence them into sexual relationships with him.
"You can interpret that any way you want, but usually people do not settle cases unless there is some reason to do so," said former DeKalb County Prosecutor J. Tom Morgan.
Morgan said he is familiar with cases like Long's.
"They had to reach a settlement if they did not want any statement by the Bishop on record," said Morgan.
Former New Birth members Spencer LeGrande, Anthony Flagg, Maurice Robinson and Jamal Parris filed civil lawsuits against Long last September.
Reports that Long was trying to cut a deal with his accusers surfaced last December. Morgan estimated that the amount Long paid the young men is "in the millions" and Long reached the settlement because of details that would have emerged about the incidents in court. Part of the agreement is that nobody talks about the case.
