A new report has surfaced claiming that New Birth Missionary Baptist Church pastor Bishop Eddie Long is paying nearly $25 million and has given a private apology to settle claims he had improper sexual relationships with four young male parishioners.
According to Redding News Review, a source who claims to be familiar with the details of the settlement and did not wish to be identified, said that Long refused to give a public apology, which ended up costing him more. Long allegedly gave each men a private apology.
What began as a $2 million agreement to settle the case for each of the four men quickly rose to $5.5 million for the respective plaintiffs, the source said, only because Long refused to publicly admit guilt.
The final figure comes to $22 million for the four men and $2.8 million for the plaintiffs attorneys. The church had reportedly already been paying these four young men $40,000 annually each before any charges were filed, the source said.
Redding News Review has decided not to print the source’s paraphrasing of that apology.
RELATED: Creflo Dollar Tells Former New Birth Members To Go Back, Compares Scandal To Car Wreck [VIDEO]
RELATED: Sherri Shepherd Goes In On Eddie Long [VIDEO]
RELATED: Settlement Reached In Eddie Long Sexual Misconduct Case [VIDEO]
RELATED: Eddie Long’s Church Is Collapsing, Says Source
RELATED: Bishop Eddie Long: “I’m Gonna Fight” [VIDEO & PHOTOS]