Lawsuit Accuses Donnie McClurkin of Sexually Abusing Young Man Over Several Years

McClurkin's attorney denied the allegations.

In a civil lawsuit filed Jan. 2 in New York, Giuseppe Corletto has accused Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor Donnie McClurkin of sexual assault and battery under the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, NBC News reports.

Corletto claims McClurkin repeatedly assaulted and raped him between 2007 and 2015, and the suit references an 2013 email in which McClurkin appears to acknowledge and apologize for the behavior.

“I am the actual epitome of a desperate dirty ‘old man’…groping a young man who is just looking for a friendship and close platonic [sic] relationship with someone he looks to for help, guidance and spirituality,” the alleged email states. “You don’t have that desire for me, and I shouldn’t have it for you. I forced myself on you.”

Corletto says he first met McClurkin in 2003 after reading the pastor’s autobiography, where McClurkin described God helping him overcome what he called the “curse” of homosexuality. Corletto, then 21, says he was struggling to reconcile his faith and sexuality. He sought spiritual guidance at McClurkin’s Perfecting Faith Church in Long Island, New York.

What began as Corletto’s “very innocent” mentoring soon took a disturbing turn, according to the lawsuit. During “pray the gay away” spiritual sessions, McClurkin allegedly began molesting him, abuse that Corletto said escalated as he worked as McClurkin’s assistant and traveled with him regularly.

According to Corletto, the abuse began in 2007, when McClurkin allegedly forced him into oral and anal sex in a California hotel room. Similar incidents followed over the next two years during trips to Atlantic City and Manhattan, as well as at McClurkin’s Long Island home, according to the lawsuit.

Corletto, according to the lawsuit, “struggled to process these incidents of sexual abuse, as [McClurkin] was both his mentor and employer, making it difficult for him to speak out about the abuse he had suffered.”

“Throughout this period, plaintiff attempted to quit on multiple occasions,” the complaint reads. “Defendant, however, denied plaintiff’s requests, further coercing him to stay by telling plaintiff that his ‘deliverance’ and ‘purpose’ were tied to defendant.”

“He would always compare me to people in the bible like Elisha and Elijah,” Corletto explained, referring to them prophets’ mentor-mentee relationship. “There was a lot of biblical manipulation. I thought I was to blame. I was brainwashed to think that my deliverance was wrapped up in him.”

Corletto quit working for McClurkin in 2008, but claims his former boss continued to pursue him. According to the suit, Corletto became depressed and suicidal after an incident at a Niagara Falls hotel in 2013. He briefly returned to McClurkin’s church before cutting ties for good.

Corletto claims that it wasn’t until last year that he rediscovered an alleged email McClurkin sent after the Niagara Falls encounter, a message Corletto said left him feeling “vindicated,” because it appeared to acknowledge wrongdoing.

“I have no one…and I feel it more than ever…But I was horribly wrong trying to force you into something that you were consistently saying no to,” McClurkin wrote in the email, according to the lawsuit. “I am too old to be like this.”

Greg Lisi, an attorney for McClurkin, called the allegations “categorically false.”

“At no time did Pastor McClurkin engage in any form of sexual abuse, assault, or sexual coercion of Mr. Corletto,” Lisi said in a statement. “The claims set forth in the lawsuit grossly mischaracterize their interactions, which occurred over a decade, and some accusations over 2 decades, ago. All these allegations are contradicted by the real facts.”

The suit was filed under New York City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which temporarily extended the window for survivors to bring sexual abuse claims. Although the two-year filing period closed in March 2025, some cases continued under tolling agreements that granted additional time.