A person who claims he labored as a youth pastor for T.D. Jakes within the Nineties has accused the megachurch chief of making an attempt to kiss him. The accusation was lodged every week after Jakes formally denied separate allegations he sexually assaulted former pastor Duane Youngblood when he was a teen and his older brother, Pastor Richard Edwin Youngblood.
The brand new declare from 57-year-old Timothy Anderson of Manatee County, Florida, is a part of a authorized response filed on Feb. 21 by Duane Youngblood’s legal professional, Tyrone A. Blackburn, in assist of a movement searching for to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Jakes, the founding father of the 80,000-member Potter’s Home in Dallas, Texas, in opposition to his accusers.
Dustin Pusch, a lawyer for Jakes, has already dismissed Anderson’s declare, telling the Dallas Morning Information that Anderson is an unreliable ally of the Youngbloods who’re making an attempt to destroy Jakes’ repute.
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“Mr. Jakes filed a lawsuit in opposition to disgraced former minister and convicted baby predator Duane Youngblood and different conspirators in response to Mr. Youngblood’s calculated disinformation marketing campaign aimed toward destroying Mr. Jakes’s repute, extracting hundreds of thousands from Mr. Jakes, and launching a brand new profession for himself,” Pusch stated in an emailed assertion to the Dallas Morning Information on Tuesday.
“In a determined try to keep away from accountability for his knowingly false accusations and to distract from his reprehensible conduct, Mr. Youngblood has enlisted felons, members of the family, and different utterly unreliable allies to lob but extra false accusations at Mr. Jakes.”
In a sworn affidavit, Anderson recalled that whereas staying at a lodge throughout a convention hosted by Jakes in 1996, he shared a room with Duane Youngblood, whom he knew by way of the Increased Floor All the time Abounding Group, the place he had served as youth evangelist for about three to 4 years.
He claims that he had simply been requested by Jakes to relocate to Dallas to function his youth pastor and shared that request with Duane Youngblood. Through the convention, he claims Duane Youngblood warned him to watch out about undesirable advances from Jakes after sharing what he and his brother had allegedly skilled.
Within the affidavit, Anderson mentioned his personal historical past of discovering religion after his dysfunctional life as a foster baby compelled him into the streets and the ills it needed to provide, like medication and different crimes.
“The church turned my residence, and the individuals there turned my household. I discovered energy within the assist of my pastor, Bishop Sherman Watkins, who had stood by me from the start, and within the knowledge of different leaders who helped information me alongside the way in which,” he stated.
His testimony would quickly lead him into management and he turned a licensed and ordained elder at Increased Floor All the time Abounding Assemblies. He stated in ministry, he started to expertise shocking sexual advances from ministry leaders as he labored as a younger evangelist.
He stated the chance to work for Jakes had felt like the chance of a lifetime, so when the megachurch chief provided him $24,000 to function his youth pastor in Dallas, which was a 3rd of what he was making as an evangelist, he believed the sacrifice could be value it.
The submitting alleges Jakes promised that along with the $24,000 wage, he would have the ability to complement his earnings by taking up assignments outdoors of his youth pastor duties. Quickly after he started working with Jakes, Anderson claims he started having uncomfortable encounters with the megachurch chief.
“I arrived in Dallas, wanting to work alongside Bishop Jakes and excited concerning the future. Nevertheless, my first encounter with him in his new mansion, once I was tasked with assembling furnishings, set the tone for a brand new type of discomfort. Whereas I had hoped to debate ministry with him, to be taught from him as a mentor, one thing surprising occurred. At one level, he went into his rest room and, when he returned, handed by me bare,” Anderson alleges within the affidavit.
“I used to be surprised. I turned away, making an attempt to downplay the scenario in my thoughts. This was Bishop Jakes, in any case — this chance was a dream come true, or no less than, that’s what I saved telling myself. I didn’t need to make issues awkward. I didn’t need to be seen as homophobic or judgmental. I instructed myself that I couldn’t let a single uncomfortable second destroy this opportunity to be taught from one of many biggest preachers of my technology.”
Over time, in keeping with Anderson, extra uncomfortable conditions would occur till Jakes tried to kiss him.
Anderson recalled being provided a chance to evangelise in Japan however Jakes allegedly instructed him he couldn’t go as a result of it could intrude along with his duties on the Potter’s Home. He stated when he reminded Jakes of the settlement that they had — that he would have the ability to complement his earnings with different preaching assignments — Jakes made it clear that he wanted to decide on between working as his youth pastor or going again to being an evangelist.
Anderson stated he was so overwhelmed by the selection Jakes gave him “I started to cry.”
“I knew from my previous experiences — experiences that had brought on a lot ache — that this wasn’t only a determination about ministry or a job. It was about energy, management, and manipulation. The extra I considered it, the extra I broke down emotionally,” he recalled.
“I paced his workplace, making an attempt to make sense of every little thing, making an attempt to breathe by way of the overwhelming unhappiness. As I walked backwards and forwards, making an attempt to course of what was taking place, Bishop Jakes stood up, grabbed a field of tissues, and walked towards me. His phrases had been chilly, calculated: ‘It seems like you might have a call to make.’ After which, in a transfer that left me paralyzed with confusion, he grabbed me and tried to kiss me,” Anderson alleged. “My thoughts was racing. Emotionally distraught, I pushed him away and tried to regain some management over my feelings.”
Anderson stated he continued to cry, hoping Jakes would present him compassion, nevertheless it by no means got here.
“The tissues had been positioned in entrance of me like a logo of my brokenness, and I instructed him how a lot I beloved him, how tough this determination was for me. I used to be making an attempt to carry onto no matter shred of dignity I had left. However his response was chilling. He jogged my memory once more that it was his ministry, his management, and that if he gave me what I needed — my probability to go to Japan — then I wouldn’t perceive the ideas of authority,” Anderson stated.
Two weeks later, Anderson defined, “I made the tough determination to return to evangelism.”
In a submitting earlier this month, Jakes declared underneath penalty of perjury that the claims made in opposition to him by the Youngblood brothers and a number of John Does are malicious lies.
In one other movement to dismiss Jakes’ lawsuit, Richard Youngblood claims that just like his youthful brother’s expertise, Jakes tried to sexually assault him years in the past, whereas he shared a lodge room with the bishop throughout a ministry journey. Jakes allegedly climbed into his mattress and pressed his physique in opposition to him with an erection.
In a sworn affidavit final Friday, Richard Youngblood reiterated his declare whereas denying claims by Jakes’ camp that he’s searching for revenge in opposition to Jakes for not supporting his youthful brother whereas he was being prosecuted for intercourse crimes. Richard Youngblood additionally insisted that he by no means tried searching for a job from Jakes or the Potter’s Home.
“The plaintiff makes an attempt to discredit my testimony by alleging that my claims are motivated by bitterness or private achieve. That is unfaithful. My sworn assertion particulars occasions that occurred within the late Eighties, which I’ve carried privately for many years. The core challenge right here will not be my private historical past however somewhat the particular actions of Bishop T.D. Jakes that I personally skilled, Richard Youngblood said.
“I by no means wavered in my account of the incident within the EconoLodge in Westover, WV. The truth that I shared what occurred with a church elder instantly after the incident (Silas Wheeler) exhibits that I used to be not fabricating this many years later for private achieve. If my intentions had been deceitful, why would I’ve confided in others at the moment?” he requested.
“Moreover, I confided in Minister Derrick Faison, who lived within the duplex with me. After I requested if Bishop Jakes had ever tried something with him, he responded, ‘I’ve by no means been wakened with nothing like that.’ This assertion additional proves that I used to be searching for understanding about what had occurred to me,” he stated.
Richard Youngblood additional said that he additionally instructed his then-wife what he claims Jakes did to him. Afterward, Jakes is accused of telling Youngblood’s spouse that he was a liar, which he attributes to the breakdown of his marriage.
“Like many others, I as soon as believed that I used to be following a person of God who had integrity — a religious chief who might information me in ministry. I used to be prepared to uproot my life, transfer my household, and dedicate my effort and time to serving in his ministry,” Richard Youngblood stated. “What I found was not the person I assumed I used to be following. As a substitute, I got here to appreciate that Bishop Jakes was at finest bisexual and at worst a closeted gay — one thing that deeply conflicted with the picture he projected to his followers and the church at massive.”
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