Bishop Eddie Long | Fourth accuser speaks out

Spencer LeGrande, the fourth young man to file a lawsuit accusing Bishop Eddie Long of sexual misconduct, said Wednesday he continues to pray for the megachurch pastor.

"I pray for him too," he said. "I really do."

"They said bishop has been accused of something, and my heart dropped," he said. "And that was my time that God told me to release what I had to say."

LeGrande first met Long when he was 15 and a member at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, where he and his mother were among the founding families, according to his suit. He said they first had sex when he was 17 and on a trip with Long to Nairobi, Kenya. He later moved to Atlanta.

He said that in the time since he filed the suit, he has "been free."

"Once God's time is ready for it to expose everything it's going to happen, and I just ... want people to know to keep praying," he said. "Keep praying for our strength and for us getting through this."

Long denies the allegations. He made his first public appearance since the lawsuits were filed on Sunday when he addressed thousands of his congregants during two worship services. "This thing I'm going to fight,"  he told cheering church members. He said he planned to "vigorously" defend himself but would not play out the drama in the media spotlight.

Attorney B.J. Bernstein, who represents the plaintiffs,  has tried to keep the young men under wraps, but two have done television interviews about Long.  Bernstein's office said she would have no comment about the interviews.

On Tuesday,  Parris, 23, told WAGA-TV that he loved Longbut now considers him "a monster."

"So, while the media and the rest of the people around the city, around the country look at us like how could grown men let another man touch him, what you have to understand is this man has manipulated us since childhood," he said. "This was our father and we loved him."

Long, speaking to his New Birth congregation Tuesday night,  did not directly address the allegations against him or the individuals involved, but called the situation "spiritual warfare," according to Channel 2.

Dressed in a tight muscle shirt and vest, Long said that if he thought people believed media reports on the scandal, "I'd be scared to show up, I'd be scared to look at you. But there's something in me bigger than the situation."