It's over. Eddie Long settles sex abuse lawsuits

It's going to be a long time before Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church makes any anti-gay statements or leads any marches against gay marriage :

Attorneys involved in the four lawsuits against Long, the LongFellows Youth Academy and the 25,000-member Lithonia megachurch said the case had been settled but declined to comment further. The case is expected to be dismissed "with prejudice" -- meaning the defendant cannot be sued by the plaintiffs again in the same alleged offense -- by close of business Friday, said Barbara Marschalk, who represents New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Long Fellows Youth Academy.

B.J. Bernstein, who represents the four men who sued Long, New Birth and the academy, also confirmed the lawsuits had been settled. The academy was named in three of the suits.

Long, pastor of the Lithonia megachurch, which has an international following, had denied the men's allegations through a spokesman shortly after they first became public in September and told his congregation he planned to "vigorously" fight them.

The accusations made against Long by Anthony Flagg, Spencer LeGrande, Jamal Parris and Maurice Robinson alleged that the bishop used his influence, trips, gifts and jobs to coerce them into sexual relations.

Rumors online are that the settlement is between $4 and $15 million. I guess we will never know the truth about that just like we may never know the truth about what actually happened.

Related post:

Eddie Long scandal - Chronology of what has happened and where we are now