Donnie McClurkin, a Grammy Award-winning gospel singer and minister who has publicly denounced homosexuality, is being sued for sexually assaulting his former male personal assistant.
McClurkin, 66, faces charges of sexual assault, sexual battery and more in a civil lawsuit filed Friday in New York County Supreme Court. The singer's accuser, identified in court documents as Giuseppe Corletto, accuses McClurkin of repeatedly sexually assaulting him since he began working in 2004-2015. The complaint also includes an alleged email from the singer in which he apologizes for his actions and writes, “I am the very definition of a desperate, dirty 'old man'.”
McClurkin's legal representative rejected the allegations as “categorically false.”
“At no time did Pastor McClurkin engage in any form of sexual abuse, assault or sexual coercion against Mr. Corletto,” McClurkin’s attorney, Gregory S. Lisi, said in a statement released Tuesday. “The claims made in the complaint grossly misrepresent their interactions that occurred more than ten years ago, as well as certain allegations that go back more than two decades. All of these allegations are contrary to the actual facts.”
Lisi added, “Pastor McClurkin denies all allegations of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend himself against this claim through the appropriate legal process. Because this is an active legal proceeding, Pastor McClurkin will not be making any further comment at this time.”
The lawsuit alleges that Corletto was 21 and struggling with his sexuality when he met McClurkin, known for the songs “I Call You Faithful” and “Wait on the Lord,” in August 2003. Corletto attended a reading of McClurkin's 2001 book “Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor” about the singer's experience of “suffering from homosexuality” and met with the singer, according to court documents. Corletto sought advice from the Grammy winner, who hired him as his personal assistant.
According to the lawsuit, the two men formed a mentor-mentee relationship and participated in spiritual “pray the gay away” sessions “during which Defendant McClurkin groped Plaintiff’s genitals” without consent, the lawsuit states. McClurkin also allegedly “designed scenarios” between Corletto and the other men and presented them as “tests from God.”
In 2007, Corletto and his girlfriend traveled with McClurkin and the singer's family to California, where the artist allegedly raped Corletto in a hotel room. The lawsuit alleges McClurkin exposed himself to Corletto before dragging him onto the bed, forcibly kissing and grabbing his body and forcing Corletto to have anal sex. When Corletto told his boss about the alleged assault, McClurkin allegedly said he didn't remember anything and blamed Corletto's behavior on medications. The singer “further manipulated Plaintiff by blaming him for the incident and convincing him that he was the only guilty party,” confusing Corletto, the suit says.
The lawsuit alleges that McClurkin “repeatedly used these tactics, coercing Plaintiff into further unwanted sexual conduct over the next six years,” including numerous alleged incidents while he worked at McClurkin's church. The complaint details additional reports of alleged sexual abuse between 2007 and 2008.
The suit says Corletto tried several times to stop working for McClurkin, but the singer refused, telling an assistant that “his 'deliverance' and 'purpose' were tied” to him. The complaint adds that Corletto reported the alleged sexual abuse to several church employees, but “no action was taken.” Corletto stopped working for McClurkin in 2008 but continued to clash with the singer in subsequent years, the lawsuit says.
The “Again” artist allegedly raped Corletto in 2012 in Orlando, where he was training for an airline job. McClurkin learned of the whereabouts of his former employee from one of Corletto's friends and showed up at his hotel room. The lawsuit alleged that McClurkin said he needed to talk to Corletto, who “reluctantly agreed to let” the singer into his room. In the hotel room, McClurkin allegedly “begged Plaintiff to have sex with him 'one last time,'” but Corletto refused. Corletto claims he awoke to find McClurkin masturbating and touching his body before the singer “forcibly attacked Corletto again” and raped his former employee, the suit says.
Corletto returned to McClurkin's church in the summer of 2013 and joined the singer on a trip to Niagara Falls. McClurkin allegedly sexually assaulted Corletto again and several days later sent an email apologizing for his actions, according to a screenshot included in the lawsuit. In addition to comparing himself to a “desperate dirty old man,” according to the lawsuit, McClurkin allegedly wrote to Corletto, “I forced myself on you… groped you… and when I think about it… you never touched me like that at all.” McClurkin also allegedly promised to become Corletto's friend and pastor.
Two years after McClurkin sent the alleged email, Corletto returned to the singer's church despite his mental health issues. The lawsuit alleges that McClurkin continued to make sexual advances by “taking advantage of Plaintiff's vulnerability and current fragile mental state.”
The complaint says Corletto “suffered injury, emotional distress, physical pain, emotional pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life” as a result of the sexual assault. He is seeking a jury trial, an unspecified amount of compensatory damages, legal fees and additional damages.
Times editorial library director Cary Schneider contributed to this report.
