Aug 25, 2018

Televangelist Accused of Forced Sterilization, Sex Harassment

JEFF D. GORMAN
Courthouse News Service
August 22, 2018

(CN) – Television preacher Ernest Angley is facing a lawsuit from a former employee who claims Angley asked to watch him masturbate and forced him to get a vasectomy.

Brock Miller of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sued the 97-year-old Angley and Grace Cathedral in Summit County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.

Miller, represented by attorney Robert Pecchio in Twinsburg, Ohio, says he began working for Angley in 2004 at the age of 18.
“As a condition of his employment, defendants forced plaintiff to undergo a vasectomy— to ensure that he was never able to have children,” the nine-page lawsuit states.

Later that year, Miller claims he invited Angley to go on a walk and give him advice on his upcoming marriage.

According to the complaint, Angley told Miller that he could not offer him advice unless he looked at Miller’s penis.

“Angley then told plaintiff to masturbate in front of him so Angley could make sure he was ejaculating correctly,” the lawsuit states.

Miller claims that although he was heterosexual, he agreed “because Angley was not only his boss, but more importantly was a man of God and he trusted him at that time.”
For the rest of his 10-year employment, Miller says, Angley would ask him questions like, “How often are you having sex?” and “Do you go down on your wife?”

Miller also alleges that Angley’s interest in him became physical.
“Beginning in the fall of 2006, Angley would summon plaintiff to his home for a ‘special anointing’ where Angley would have plaintiff strip naked and lie on a circular bed while Angley massaged him,” the lawsuit states.

These sessions took place at least a dozen times, according to Miller.

He claims he suffered “severe and permanent injures” and needed psychological and medical treatment.

Miller asserts claims of sexual harassment, failure to control and constructive discharge in violation of public policy. He seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Angley has not yet responded to an email request for comment on the lawsuit.

Miller’s attorney, Pecchio, declined to comment.
Angley’s Grace Cathedral is located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Its website is advertising a “miracle service and healing line” on Aug. 31.

Angley’s TV shows include the daily “Ninety and Nine Club” and the weekly “Ernest Angley Hour.”
The Akron Beacon Journal published a series of articles on Angley and his church in 2014. Reporter Bob Dyer spoke to former church members who “say Angley holds so much sway over his members’ lives that he has persuaded them to get abortions and vasectomies even when they didn’t want to.”
According to the Beacon Journal, Angley told his congregation, “I’m not a homosexual. God wouldn’t use a homosexual like he uses me. He calls me his prophet, and indeed I am.”

https://www.courthousenews.com/televangelist-accused-of-forced-sterilization-sex-harassment/

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