Popular American gospel musician and preacher Donnie McClurkin has been accused of sexually abusing a young man over several years.
According to a new lawsuit filed by his former personal assistant Giuseppe Corletto, the Grammy Award-winning singer had also allegedly written an apology email declaring himself a “dirty old man.”
The suit is being filed under New York City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which in 2022 extended the statute of limitations for plaintiffs to sue over sexual abuse allegations.
First Encounter
According to Corletto, he had visited McClurkin’s church in Long Island, New York, at age 21 in 2003, after reading the clergyman’s autobiographical book, which recounted how God helped him overcome the “curse” of homosexuality.
McClurkin wrote in his 2001 book, “Eternal Victim-Eternal Victor,” that an uncle sexually abused him when he was 8, which he believes caused his homosexuality.
“A seed had been planted. A seed that would be my lot to struggle with for many years to come,” McClurkin wrote.
He added in the book that reading the scriptures helped him to overcome his struggles with his sexually.
“There are many more things that need to be done to break the curse of homosexuality, but that’s another book,” McClurkin wrote.
Corletto then said when he read Donnie McClurkin’s book, he felt an immediate connection. They both grew up poor in New York. And he said that he, too, was sexually abused by a relative as a young boy.
Corletto said he went to McClurkin’s church and followed his guidance, hoping for the same outcome.
“I truly did believe he was fully delivered from homosexuality,” Corletto said in the interview. “I was doing whatever they were saying to rid myself of it.”
He shared how he was brought to meet with McClurkin after the event, and the man took an immediate interest in him.
“At first, it was all very innocent and what I thought was mentoring,” Corletto said.
Donnie McClurkin denies sexual assault allegations, calls claims ‘untrue’
Years of Abuse
According to the suit, Corletto became McClurkin’s assistant in 2004, and about two years passed before McClurkin began to grope him during “pray the gay away” sessions, and the abuse escalated over the next several years.
On work trips, the abuse escalated to rape, Corletto said in the interview and in his lawsuit.
The suit narrated how McClurkin forced himself on Corletto and raped him in a hotel room during a trip to California in 2007, despite McClurkin bringing his girlfriend along.
When confronted about the incident, the lawsuit says, McClurkin told Corletto that he was on medication and didn’t remember anything.
“McClurkin further manipulated [Corletto], blaming him for the incident and convincing him that he was the sole culpable party,” the lawsuit said, adding that; “As a result, plaintiff experienced intense shame and confusion.”
The abuse also took place at McClurkin’s church, Perfecting Faith Church.
The lawsuit claimed that McClurkin would “secretly grope” Corletto before going to preach, causing him to cry during the service.
McClurkin would then use his tears to “encourage other congregants to openly express emotion,” the lawsuit added.
Corletto attempted to quit his job multiple times, the lawsuit says, but McClurkin guilted him into staying.
“There was a lot of biblical manipulation. He would always compare me to people in the Bible like Elisha and Elijah,” Corletto said, referring to the prophets who had a mentor-mentee relationship.
He continued to say that; “I thought I was to blame. I was brainwashed to think that my deliverance was wrapped up in him.”
The lawsuit also stated that Corletto “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.”
He finally quit in 2008 and ultimately got a job at a major airline, but McClurkin continued to pursue him, the lawsuit says.
Exit from McClurkin’s Church
After an alleged sexual assault at a Niagara Falls hotel in 2013, Corletto said he became depressed and suicidal in the years after. He attempted to take his life and afterwards, he briefly returned to McClurkin’s church.
“I thought, ‘Well, you strayed from God, so you’ve got to go back to God,’” Corletto said.
However, he soon decided to leave the church and sever all contact with McClurkin.
Apology Email
After the assault at a Niagara Falls hotel in 2013, the lawsuit says McClurkin wrote Corletto an email apologising for his actions.
“I am the actual epitome of a desperate dirty ‘old man’,” he allegedly wrote in the message, according to the lawsuit, “pawning and groping a young man who is just looking for a friendship and close platonic relationship with someone he wants to look to for help, guidance and spirituality.”
He added that; “I feel so foul… so stupid,” according to Corletto’s lawsuit, which was filed Friday, January 2, 2026, in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
“I know I apologised for my wrong attitude from Wednesday… But I want to apologise for all of my behaviour that has been wrong and put you in the wrong place.
“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. I am too old to be like this,” McClurkin added, according to the lawsuit.
Corletto said the email, following years of emotional and spiritual turmoil, was a source of relief.
“I didn’t make this up. I wasn’t crazy. I felt vindicated in some ways… He’s literally admitting to his guilt,” Corletto said.
Reaction from McClurkin’s Lawyer
An attorney for McClurkin said the allegations are ‘categorically false.’
“At no time did Pastor McClurkin engage in any form of sexual abuse, assault, or sexual coercion of Corletto. The claims set forth in the lawsuit grossly mischaracterise their interactions, which occurred over a decade, and some accusations over 2 decades ago. All these allegations are contradicted by the real facts,” the attorney, Greg Lisi, said in a statement according to NBC News.
Corletto’s lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, said McClurkin “took advantage” of someone who was “confused and had problems accepting his sexuality, coupled with his religious beliefs. It’s really very sad.”
Giuffra said he hopes the lawsuit will provide his client with compensation, closure and “some measure of justice for what happened to him.”
Corletto said he’s now in a much better place. He’s married and no longer feels tormented.
“Ever since I did embrace my sexuality and stopped trying to change it, the weight of suicide has left me,” Corletto told NBC News.
ID/AE
