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.

Bishop Long's Accusers Say He Became Father Figure

In their separate lawsuits, the four men say they were just teenagers when Long began forcing them into sexual relationships. In some cases, Long had stepped into be a sort of father figure. Parris claimed in his lawsuit against Long that the pastor used to "encourage him to call him daddy."

Parris alleged in the documents that the bishop would request he be nude while in his presence and would request "sexual massages" and "oral sodomy" when they traveled.

Robinson and Flagg have not spoken publicly since the their lawsuits were filed.

B.J. Bernstein, the lawyer for all four men, has refused to make her clients available to the media and has made it clear she doesn't approve of them speaking to the public about the case.

Long's accusers have said they believe the bishop abused more young men that eventually will come forward. Many people at the church knew what was going on but covered for Long, victims claimed.

Though Long has denied the sex abuse claims in various statements released after the lawsuits were filed in DeKalb County court, he side-stepped an outright denial during his sermon on Sunday in which he told the thousands of worshippers in attendance that he considered himself "David" and his accuers "Goliath."

"This is probably the most difficult time in my entire life," Long said during from the pulpit last weekend.

"It will be tried in the court of justice, and dealt with in the court of justice," he said last week. "I feel like David, against Goliath, but I've got five rocks, and I haven't thrown one yet."