Pastor's sexual coercion lawsuit resolved

A lawsuit brought by four young male members of an Atlanta megachurch who said its pastor, Eddie Long, coerced them into sex has been "resolved," their attorney said on Thursday.

B.J. Bernstein, who represented the men, gave no details of the settlement. There was no immediate comment from Long's megachurch, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church based in Lithonia, Georgia.

"Neither attorney Bernstein nor the plaintiffs themselves will be available for interview on this matter, now or in the future," a statement from Bernstein's office said.

"There is no spokesperson for the plaintiffs' team other than attorney Bernstein, and she will have no further comment on the case," it said.

Long denied the accusations made in civil lawsuits last September that he used his status as pastor to coerce the men into relationships when they were in their late teens.

"Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as bishop over them to ultimately bring them to engage in sexual relationships," according to the lawsuits.

When the accusations were first filed, Long told his church he faced a similar situation to David when he fought Goliath.

Long built the church from just 300 members in 1987 to more than 25,000 today.

The church, set on a campus east of Atlanta, runs a global network of ministries and businesses. It hosted the funeral in 2006 of civil rights leader Coretta Scott King.
David Beasley Reuters