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Popular pastor, T. D Jakes is currently facing sexual assault charges after two brothers accused him of offering them a secret relationship and forcing one of them to feel his erection. Duane and Richard Youngblood accused the pastor of “preying” on them for decades. According to court documents, the first accusation comes from Duane who alleges that the pastor assaulted him when he was 18 or 19.
Duane, who is currently 58 claims that the pastor called him while in a bathtub and tried to coerce him to accept a transactional sexual relationship. He claims Jakes told him, “When I come to Pittsburgh, you’ll be the only person I sleep with… I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.”
After Duane’s allegations, his older brother Richard Youngblood also came forward with similar claims. He alleges that during a ministry trip, Jakes climbed into his bed and pressed himself against him and tried to force him to feel his erection while telling him, “Youngblood, do you feel that?” He claims that as he tried to escape from the preacher, Jakes grabs him and tried to kiss him.
Richard Youngblood said he first met Jakes around the spring of 1986 and worked as an assistant and praise and worship leader in Jakes’ church before “things started to become weird,” including Jakes discussing oral sex. Later, he said, Jakes rented a hotel room one night for them with two beds.
Jakes has come out to “fiercely” denies the allegations against him, referring to them as a “campaign of lies.” He insinuates that the brothers are out to extort $6 million from him. The pastor also claims that the allegations stem from him refusing to help Richard secure employment, therefore believes they are rooted in revenge. Jakes says that he has “never harbored carnal desires for these men.”
Jakes argues that such accusations have “deeply” affected him emotionally and caused damage to his family and reputation. “All of this was happening while I found myself helping my wife recover from knee replacement surgery and while helping my brother navigate kidney failure,” he wrote in the statement filed Friday. “This unwarranted stress brought me to a place of having a health crisis on stage in front of my entire congregation. As a guy who’d had no previous health challenges, this near-death experience was a turning point for me. Enough is enough!”
