Bishop Eddie Long's Ex-Wife Claimed 'Vicious' Abuse During Divorce

Sept. 30, 2010— -- The ex-wife of the Atlanta mega-church pastor accused of sex abuse by four young men once claimed the exalted church leader had a "vicious and violent temper" and beat her while she was pregnant with his son.

In court documents filed during the couple's 1985 divorce, Dabara Houston, then Dabara Long, said she was terrified of Bishop Eddie Long and that she fled their home with their son "in order to ensure their safety."

Among the allegations were that Long, then an assistant minister, beat his wife using his fists with she was 7 1/2 months pregnant and that she was subjected to "cruel treatment"

Long's attorney, Craig Gillen, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Houston could not be reached, but her brother said in an interview with ABCNews.com that he wasn't privy to his sister's abuse allegations and that she "stays pretty much to herself" these days.

"That's been a long time ago," Lonnie Houston said, adding that he last saw Long about 20 years ago. "He was a fine fellow."

The 25-year-old domestic violence claims surfaced just as a second of Long's alleged sex abuse victims spoke out to say he was praying for the leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

"There's only one way to God, and that's the truth," Spencer LaGrande told ABC's Atlanta affiliate WSB. "Once God's time is ready for it to expose everything it's going to happen, and I just pray I want people to know to keep praying. Keep praying for our strength and for us getting through this."

LaGrande, 22, was the fourth man to come forward this month to accuse Long of forcing sex on him while lavishing him with trips all over the world in private planes and luxury hotel suites.

He told the affiliate that he decided to come forward after seeing the news of the lawsuits filed by Long's first two accusers, Maurice Robinson and Anthony Flagg.

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

Earlier this week, the third accuser, Jamal Parris, 23, told Atlanta news station WAGA that Long was a "monster" who used him for sex before moving onto younger guys.

"I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head, and I cannot forget the smell of his cologne, and I cannot forget the way he made me cry when I drove in his car on the way home, not able to take enough showers to get the smell of that man off my body," Parris told the station.