Accuser to Eddie Long: 'You Are a Monster'

Jamal Parris speaks out on accusations
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 29, 2010 8:56 AM CDT
Accuser to Eddie Long: 'You Are a Monster'
Bishop Eddie Long, left, speaks Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta.   (AP Photo/John Amis, Pool)

"You are not a man, you are a monster." Those are the harsh words Jamal Parris, one of the four men who accused Bishop Eddie of sexual coercion, has for the man he called "daddy." In an interview with a Fox 5 Atlanta reporter who flew to Parris' Colorado home on Sunday, Parris continued, "I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head," said Parris. "I cannot forget the smell of his cologne. And I cannot forget the way that he made me cry many nights when I drove in his car on the way home, not able to take enough showers to wipe the smell of him off of my body."

The fatherless Parris said that after finding the father he "always dreamed of," he felt compelled to "give him what he wants" so he would stay—though ultimately, Long set his sights on younger men, according to Parris. "This man turned his back on us when he had no more need for us. That's not a father, that's a predator." Parris said he only filed the lawsuit after trying to quietly resolve things with Long, and adds, "I'm always going to have love for the things that he taught me. But how he left us hurt worse than anything I ever felt in my life." Click here to watch the interview.
(More Jamal Parris stories.)

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