New Birth and Eddie Long Try Recouping Settlement Cash
Three men who had reached a monetary settlement worth at least $1.5 million with a pastor they had accused of sexual improprieties, may have to return a portion of the settlement for breaching the confidentiality provision of their agreement.
Christian Boone of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote in “Eddie Long, New Birth seek to recoup settlement money,” that three of the five men who had accused Mr. Long, a pastor in the Atlanta-based New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, of sexual coercion, had apparently spoken out in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution despite their contractual promise to remain silent.
Attorneys for Eddie Long and the church sent a letter to the three men, Jamal Parris, Spencer LeGrande and Centino Kemp, alleging that they had breached the provision of the settlement agreement in which they promised not to talk about their allegations or of the settlement, and that they must return at least $900,000 of the settlement funds.
The men’s allegations of sexual coercion involving Eddie Long, occurred over several years with Pastor Long allegedly having used church funds to buy the men expensive gifts and then coercing them into a sexual relationship once they reached the age of consent.
Although a court battle is expected, the men admitted they knew their disclosures would jeopardize the settlement, but Spencer LeGrande said that the money was incidental to the emotional harm he suffered.
He and Jamal Parris plan to write a book about their experiences with Pastor Long. A legal expert commented that Georgia courts take confidentiality agreements seriously although he would not speculate on whether the courts would force the men to return a portion of their settlement.
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