Donnie McClurkin, the Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor recognized for songs like “We Fall Down” and “I Name You Devoted,” is dealing with critical allegations of sexual assault in a brand new lawsuit obtained by NBC Information. The lawsuit, filed by Giuseppe Corletto, accuses McClurkin of sexual assault over the course of greater than a decade whereas serving as each his non secular mentor and employer. It additionally accommodates an alleged e mail wherein McClurkin apologized for his actions, calling himself a “soiled outdated man.”
Corletto alleges the abuse started after he sought out assist from Donnie McClurkin in 2003, when he was 21 years outdated. On the time, he was struggling to reconcile along with his personal sexuality and religion. Based on the lawsuit, Corletto went to McClurkin’s Lengthy Island church, Perfecting Religion Church, after studying the pastor’s autobiographical ebook, which described how God helped him overcome what McClurkin known as the “curse” of homosexuality.
At a church occasion, McClurkin spoke overtly about his personal expertise with sexual assault, which Corletto says instantly resonated with him as a result of it was “related” to his personal life story. Corletto was later launched to McClurkin privately, and the pastor took an instantaneous curiosity in him. However what Corletto initially believed was a supportive mentorship, he now says he believes was grooming.
Giuseppe Corletto alleges McClurkin abused him at his “pray the homosexual approach” non secular classes
The lawsuit alleges that McClurkin started molesting him throughout his “pray the homosexual away” non secular classes and that the abuse escalated over a number of years. Corletto later turned McClurkin’s assistant in 2004 and recurrently traveled with him for work, in response to the submitting.
Corletto says that roughly two years into working for McClurkin, the alleged abuse escalated from groping throughout prayer classes to rape whereas touring, in response to the lawsuit. One alleged incident occurred throughout a 2007 journey to California, throughout which McClurkin additionally introduced his then-girlfriend. The lawsuit claims McClurkin nonetheless pressured himself on Corletto in a lodge room.
When confronted, Donnie McClurkin allegedly informed Corletto that he was on treatment and didn’t bear in mind what occurred.
“McClurkin additional manipulated [Corletto], blaming him for the incident and convincing him that he was the only culpable get together,” the lawsuit states. “Consequently, plaintiff skilled intense disgrace and confusion.”
The lawsuit additionally states that Corletto “struggled to course of these incidents of sexual abuse, as [McClurkin] was each his mentor and employer, making it tough for him to talk out concerning the abuse he had suffered.”
Donnie McClurkin allegedly apologized for his actions through an e mail, the lawsuit claims.
After one other alleged sexual assault at a Niagara Falls lodge in 2013, Corletto claims McClurkin later despatched him an e mail apologizing.
“I’m the precise epitome of a determined soiled ‘outdated man’,” McClurkin allegedly wrote, in response to the lawsuit, “pawning and groping a younger man who’s simply in search of a friendship and shut platonic relationship with somebody he needs/ appears to be like to for assist, steerage, and spirituality.”
He added, “I really feel so foul…so silly.
Corletto says he didn’t come throughout the alleged e mail once more till 2025, an expertise he described as validating after years of disgrace and self-doubt.
“I didn’t make this up. I wasn’t loopy,” Corletto stated. “I felt vindicated in some methods. … He’s actually admitting to his guilt.”
The gospel singer has denied all allegations introduced forth in Giuseppe Corletto’s lawsuit
McClurkin, now 66, has denied all allegations by his legal professional.
“At no time did Pastor McClurkin have interaction in any type of sexual abuse, assault, or sexual coercion of Mr. Corletto,” legal professional Greg Lisi stated in a press release. “The claims set forth within the lawsuit grossly mischaracterize their interactions, which occurred over a decade, and a few accusations over 2 many years in the past. All these allegations are contradicted by the true information.”
In his 2001 ebook Everlasting Sufferer–Everlasting Victor, McClurkin wrote that he was sexually abused by an uncle at age eight and linked that trauma to his sexuality.
“A seed had been planted,” he wrote, in response to NBC Information. “A seed that might be my lot to wrestle with for a few years to return.” He added, “There are a lot of extra issues that should be completed to interrupt the curse of homosexuality, however that’s one other ebook.”
McClurkin rose to prominence as one among gospel music’s largest stars, profitable three Grammy Awards, together with one for Finest Up to date Soul Gospel Album for his hit album …Once more. “I Name You Devoted” turned his first No. 1 single in 2005, exploding with a seven-week run atop Billboard’s Sizzling Gospel Songs chart. Oprah Winfrey famously named his self-titled album one among her favourite issues in 1996.
Giuseppe Corletto’s lawsuit was filed below New York Metropolis’s Gender-Motivated Violence Safety Regulation, which prolonged the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims in 2022. Though the usual submitting window closed in March 2025, some circumstances have proceeded by tolling agreements that reach the deadline.
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