Pastor TD Jakes hit back at lawsuits filed by 2 brothers who accused him of sexually assaulting them decades ago.
The first lawsuit was filed by former pastor Duane Youngblood, 58, who claims Pastor Jakes assaulted him over 40 years ago.
The second suit was filed earlier this month by Youngblood’s older brother Richard Edwin Youngblood Sr.
Both brothers claimed Jakes, 67, preyed on them when they were young men. Richard, 62, said he and Jakes shared a double bed hotel room years ago while on a ministry mission. He said Jakes got in his bed and assaulted him.
Richard wrote in his affidavit: “(Jakes) secured a room with two beds in it, and we went to the room for the night. That night, while I was laying in my bed, I felt Elder Jakes climb into my bed.”
Richard continued: “He pressed his body against mine and asked, ‘Youngblood, do you feel that?’ He was referencing his erection that he was pressing against my backside.”
“I got up out of bed in complete shock as he also [got] up from the opposite side and met me. He grabbed me by my arms and pulled me to him and started trying to kiss me. At this point, I cannot believe what is happening to me.”
Duane Youngblood claims he was attacked by Jakes when he was 18 or 19-years-old. He said they were at an elderly clergy woman’s home when Jakes grabbed him and kissed him.
The next morning, Youngblood claimed Jakes called his home. “He says to me, without any hesitation, ‘there’s three things I need you to do. The first one is, when I come to Pittsburgh, you’re going to be the only person I sleep with,'” Youngblood said.
“‘The second one is, you can’t sleep with anybody else because I don’t want to give my wife anything. And thirdly, I will take care of you the rest of your life.'”
Several other men also signed sworn affidavits to support the brothers’ claims.
Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit against the brothers after they went public with their allegations. The pastor denied the allegations in a response to a motion seeking to dismiss his defamation suit.
Jakes called the lawsuits a “campaign of lies,” and he said the brothers were trying to extort $6 million from him. He insisted he has never “harbored carnal desires for these men.”
Jakes is best known as the senior pastor at The Potter’s House, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas. He has a net worth of $20 million.
Jakes and his wife Serita were married in 1982. They share 5 children.
