Donnie McClurkin’s former assistant has sued the Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor, claiming years-long sexual abuse.
Giuseppe Corletto filed a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court on Friday, Jan. 2 claiming that McClurkin sexually abused him for several years when Corletto was a young man.
Corletto was 21 years when he “sought out” McClurkin in 2003 because he was struggling to reconcile with his sexuality, according to NBC News, which first reported on the lawsuit.
Corletto went to McClurkin’s church on Long Island, New York, where the pastor assured Corletto that he “would help deliver him from homosexuality,” USA TODAY reported.
From there, Corletto and McClurkin “developed a mentor-mentee relationship” that resulted in Corletto working as McClurkin’s personal assistant, PEOPLE reported. The lawsuit also states that Corletto regularly traveled with McClurkin.
During his employment, Corletto claims McClurkin frequently held “pray the gay away” spiritual sessions in which the pastor allegedly groped Corletto’s genitals without his consent, according to the lawsuit.
PEOPLE noted that the abuse continued over the next “six” years, with USA TODAY reporting that Corletto accused McClurkin of coercing him into “further unwanted sexual acts” from 2007 to as recently as 2015. Even after Corletto left the church in 2008, McClurkin is accused of tracking down his location and assaulting him twice, USA TODAY reported.
As a result, Corletto “struggled to process these...
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