Eddie Long, a mentor and role-model of Destiny Church's Brian Tamaki who reached out of court settlements after being accused of sexually abusing several of his young male parishioners, has died. Long, centre with Tamaki to the left, preaches at Destiny church last year. (Pic: Fairfax) Long, who lived lavishly on the back of his evangelical Georgia, USA, mega-church, was a central figure in Tamaki's elevation from pastor to bishop in 2005 and preached at Destiny's South Auckland church as late as June last year. Both Tamaki and Long refused to address issues arising from the allegations against Long at that time. He was publicly a strident anti-gay rights campaigner who claimed he could turn men away from being homosexual through counseling sessions he provided. However, he had a predilection for posting bathroom muscle poses of himself on social media. A number of young male parishioners, including one who traveled with him to New Zealand in 2008, accused him of abusing his position in the Georgia church to coerce them into sexual situations then gifting them with considerable amounts of cash and cars. The accusations were settled out of court and no parties have since publicly spoken of the matter. Long, aged 63 and married with several children, died yesterday after a period in which he looked increasingly gaunt. There is speculation that he succumbed to cancer.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 16th January 2017 - 10:13am