Armed with new lawyers, former pastor-turned-registered sex offender Duane Youngblood insisted Thursday that megachurch founder Bishop T.D. Jakes sexually assaulted him decades ago when he was a teenager and denied conspiring to extort him of $6 million before going public with his claims.
In a 15-page response to Jakes’ defamation lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Thursday, Youngblood’s new attorneys, Brad N. Sommer and Paul A. Ellis Jr. of the Sommer Law Group, denied many of the claims in Jakes’ lawsuit against their client.
Lawyers for Jakes claim in the lawsuit against Youngblood and multiple John Does that Youngblood’s allegations against the respected religious leader are nothing more than a carefully planned smear campaign to “extort him for millions of dollars.”
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Sommer and Ellis, however, rejected that narrative.
“ … Mr. Youngblood vehemently denies any plan, much less any conspiratorial conduct regarding an attempt of extortion. Defendant is the Defendant, not the Plaintiff — there is no action filed nor any formal or informal request or demand whatsoever from the Plaintiff for millions of dollars,” they said in their response on behalf of Youngblood.
Regarding the allegation of sexual assault against Jakes, Youngblood’s latest response notes that he “is fully prepared to stand on the truth.”
Jakes, 67, filed a defamation lawsuit against the 58-year-old Youngblood, who claimed in interviews with internet personality Larry Reid on his “Larry Reid Live” show on Oct. 28 and Nov. 3 that Jakes assaulted him when he was about 18 or 19 years old.
Youngblood claimed to Reid that he had been talking with Jakes for about two hours at the home of an older adult clergywoman, where he was staying during a local church revival approximately 40 years ago, when Jakes tried to kiss him.
“After sitting there and having this long discourse with him, I finally looked at my watch, and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, I got to go. I got to get this car back to my mother. She’s gonna kill me.’ So I said to bishop, ‘I got to get up,'” Youngblood recalled.
“And I got up from the table, he got up from the table, he walked around toward the way I had to exit quicker than I got over there, and when I started to walk past him, he pulled me to himself, wrapped his arms around me, and tried to kiss me. And in that moment, I literally died.”
The morning after the encounter, Youngblood alleges Jakes called his home and intimated that he wanted him to become a local sex partner.
“My mother answers the phone, and she says to me, ‘Duane, it’s Elder Jakes.’ Jakes and I get on that phone and when I get on that telephone, I can hear water. He is sitting in a bathtub, and in that thing, he says to me, without any hesitation, ‘there’s three things I need you to do. The first one is, when I come to Pittsburgh, you’re going to be the only person I sleep with. The second one is you can’t sleep with anybody else because I don’t want to give my wife anything. And thirdly, I will take care of you the rest of your life,” Youngblood, who is now a registered sex offender due to his past abuse of minors, claimed during his interview with Reid.
Days after making those allegations public, Jakes’ attorneys said an attorney representing Youngblood sent a demand letter to Jakes on Nov. 24, 2024, demanding $6 million “to ‘resolve this matter quickly and privately;’ otherwise, Youngblood would bring a lawsuit against Bishop Jakes for sexual assault and harassment.”
Jakes’ lawyers, who noted that the interviews went viral, said Youngblood’s allegation caused the megachurch pastor millions of dollars in reputational harm and hurt his physical health.
“Youngblood’s lies have put in jeopardy the critical philanthropic missions Bishop Jakes spearheads and has likely impaired significantly the benefits that the recipients of such efforts receive. And Youngblood’s intentional and malicious lies have taken a substantial emotional and physical toll on Bishop Jakes,” the lawsuit alleges. “On November 24 — the day before he filed this action — Bishop Jakes suffered a medical crisis on stage in the middle of his Sunday service in front of his entire church.”
Late last month, Youngblood’s former New York City attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, was called out by U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman for significant fabrications and misrepresentations of caselaw in his defense of Youngblood, and he could face sanctions.
Stickman ordered that Youngblood’s previous motion to dismiss Jakes’ lawsuit, according to Rule 12(b)(6) and Reply Memorandum supporting that motion, be stricken from the record. He also ordered Youngblood to answer Jakes’ complaint per Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 (a)(4)(A) on or before July 11. Blackburn was further ordered to show cause not exceeding 15 pages by July 18 as to why his briefs have not violated Rule 11(b) and Pa. RPC 3.3.
Blackburn is also expected to appear in court for a hearing on July 24 at 1:30 p.m. to explain why he should not be sanctioned for potential violations of Rule 11(b).
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