ATLANTA (LALATE) – Jamal Parris, the third name in the Bishop Eddie Long scandal (photos below), says he believed in his big spending, Bentley driving, Bishop. Jamal Parris like three other plaintiffs came from homes absent of father figures. Parris claims that, plus alleged use of Scriptures, helped him believe in a surrogate father figure who inserted himself into his life.
But soon thereafter, Parris claimed Eddie Long turned into a “monster”, a “predator”.
Jamal Parris referenced driving in Long’s car during an impromptu interview this week with WAGA-TV. “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 when I drove in his car on the way home, not able to take enough showers to get the smell of that man off my body”.
Parris claimed he was told to refer to Long as “Daddy”. Long, who has appeared in multiple different looks in recent weeks, from muscle shirts, to bike shorts, to a hair wig standing alongside his wife Vanessa, has disputed Parris’ allegations.
Parris says of Long “That man cannot look me in my eye and tell me we did not live this pain, how you can sit in front of the church … you are not a man, you are a monster.”
Bishop Eddie Long Pictures Released by Plaintiff’s Attorney
Bishop Eddie Long Photo 1
Bishop Eddie Long Photo 2
In fact, other Georgia ministries, not the subject of Parris’ lawsuit, were under investigation in 2007 by the U.S. Senate for opulent spending. While Long driven a Bentley, another ministry owned Rolls-Royces. Ministers, as Senate Chuch Grassley of Iowa inquired, were living it large by 2007 in the South. It was typical to have cars on ministry books in excess of $350,000. One minister when asked by WSB-TV in 2007 said that private jets are needed to spread the word of the Lord. “Like a carpenter has to have a hammer to do his job, I’ve go to have a plane to fly around the world.”
God’s servants apparently don’t fly coach.
Plaintiffs: Jamal Parris, Maurice Robinson and Anthony Flagg
Eddie Long Plaintiffs Photos 1
Eddie Long Plaintiffs Photos 2
Eddie Long Plaintiffs Photos 3
But if the ministry’s cars didn’t win Parris over, he like other plaintiffs were allegedly given cars as well, just not $350,000 ones. While the ministers were given British’s finest vehicles, plaintiffs claim they were given GM models. “Defendant Long gave Plaintiff Flagg a 2000 Mustang Convertible to drive … the Mustang was registered to Darius Wise.”
Long told the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2007 “You’ve got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that’s supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering.” Grassley said of the Bentley that “my fear is that it’s the taxpayers who subsidize this charity who are really being taken for a ride.”
