Jamal Parris, Bishop Eddie Long Accuser, Says "Being Around Him is Almost Like a Drug"
ATLANTA (CBS/AP) Jamal Parris, one of the young men accusing Bishop Eddie Long of coercing him into a sexual relationship, spoke directly to Long at the end of his first TV interview.
Turning to the camera he said, "That man cannot look me in my eye and tell me we did not live this pain."
"Why you can sit in front of the church and tell them that you categorically deny it. You can't say that to our face. And you know this. You are not a man, you are a monster," Parris told Fox TV affiliate WAGA.
Parris, 23, is one of four men suing the TV preacher in state court, claiming that Long abused his "spiritual authority" and gave them cars, clothes, cash and trips to lure them into sexual relationships while they were teen members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in suburban Atlanta.
Parris described an ongoing emotional struggle.
"I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head and I cannot forget the smell of his cologne and I cannot forget the way he made me cry many nights when I drove in his cars on the way home," Parris said. "I'm not able to take enough showers to wipe the smell of him off my body."
A spokesman for Long referred calls to an attorney, who was not immediately available Tuesday night.
When a reporter approached Parris outside a convenience store in Colorado, he at first was reluctant to speak. Then he told WAGA that Long exploited his dreams for a father figure in exchange for sexual favors.
During services at his church Sunday, Long turned to biblical terms to portray himself as an underdog but didn't outright deny the allegations.
In the Fox interview, a vehement Parris said Long "manipulated us from childhood" under the guise of providing a fatherly influence. Parris was referring to himself and the other accusers, Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg and Spencer LeGrande. They are in their 20s now but were 17 and 18 when they had sexual relationships with Long, the lawsuits say. As the age of consent in Georgia is 16, Long will apparently not face criminal charges.
Complete Coverage of Bishop Eddie Long on Crimesider
