Federal Judge Allows T.D. Jakes' Defamation Lawsuit to Proceed Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
A judge’s refusal to dismiss Bishop T.D. Jakes’ defamation lawsuit against his accuser marks a key development in a case closely watched by faith communities.
Written By Written By Carla Funderbirk // EEW Magazine Online
T.D. Jakes vehemently denies allegations of sexual misconduct from male accusers. (EEW)
On April 28, 2025, a federal judge in Pennsylvania denied a motion to dismiss Bishop T.D. Jakes’ defamation lawsuit against Duane Youngblood, a registered sex offender and former pastor who accused the Dallas-based faith leader of sexual misconduct more than four decades ago.
The ruling allows the case to move forward, placing serious allegations of clergy abuse under renewed public scrutiny at a defining moment in Jakes’ storied ministry.
As first reported by The Christian Post, United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV ruled that Pennsylvania’s Anti-SLAPP statute—designed to shield individuals from lawsuits intended to silence public speech—did not apply in this instance. Judge Stickman determined that Youngblood’s legal arguments would be more appropriate under a different procedural rule and declined to reinterpret them himself, leaving the door open for Youngblood to file a revised motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
The controversy erupted in October 2024 when Youngblood, 58, appeared on the Larry Reid Live YouTube podcast. There, he accused Jakes—then a young minister in the 1980s—of attempting to groom and sexually assault him in Pittsburgh when Youngblood was in his late teens. He claimed Jakes made unwanted advances, including trying to kiss him and calling him from a bathtub expressing sexual interest.
Allegations intensified in January 2025 when Youngblood’s older brother, Pastor Richard Edwin Youngblood, 62, submitted an affidavit stating that Jakes attempted to sexually assault him in 1986 during a shared hotel stay in West Virginia.
A third individual, Timothy Anderson, who said he once served as a youth pastor under Jakes, added his voice in February 2025, alleging that Jakes tried to kiss him and exert undue influence during their working relationship.
Jakes, 67, filed the defamation suit on November 25, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, seeking at least $75,000 in damages. The complaint asserts that Youngblood’s claims are fabricated and part of an orchestrated extortion plot demanding $6 million for silence. The suit further characterizes Youngblood’s actions as an attempt to deflect attention from his own criminal past. He was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in 2008 and later of corruption of minors in 2014.
In a sworn February 2025 affidavit, Jakes denounced the accusations as “knowingly and flagrantly false,” alleging that the Youngblood brothers are engaged in a coordinated “campaign of lies.”
Youngblood’s attorney, Tyrone A. Blackburn, responded to the ruling by casting the lawsuit as a form of retaliation. “This lawsuit is a textbook example of a powerful entity attempting to silence a survivor of alleged clergy abuse,” he told Religion News Service.
EEW Magazine has been tracking the case since its inception, first reporting on the lawsuit in the article, “T.D. Jakes Accused of Sexual Assault, Sues for Defamation”, published November 25, 2024. That report detailed both the explosive accusations and the stress-induced heart attack Jakes suffered during a Sunday sermon, which required emergency surgery.
In his lawsuit, Jakes expressed empathy for genuine survivors of abuse while firmly rejecting the claims against him. “Bishop Jakes believes with all his heart that actual victims of sexual abuse should be treated with the utmost respect, kindness, empathy, and sympathy—and that true perpetrators of such abuse should be held accountable. But that is not the case here,” the filing states.
This legal battle unfolds during a pivotal leadership transition at The Potter’s House, a 30,000-member, non-denominational megachurch. On April 27, 2025, Jakes announced he would hand over leadership to his daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Touré Roberts, later this year.
“I cannot afford, especially after November, to risk something happening to me and you be sheep without a shepherd,” he said, referencing his 2024 heart attack and signaling a proactive step to secure the ministry’s future. He will retain his role as chairman of the T.D. Jakes Group and also plans to launch a new podcast with iHeartMedia.
Jakes’ case stands out not only because of his prominence, but also within a broader cultural context of increased public scrutiny over clergy misconduct. EEW has previously reported on similar allegations, such as those against Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris and former Hillsong Church leader Brian Houston. Houston, who faced criminal charges in Australia for failing to report his father’s child sexual abuse, was acquitted in 2023 after the court ruled he had a reasonable excuse based on the victim’s wishes.
As the case moves forward, its impact reaches far beyond the courtroom. In the Black church community, where pastors like T.D. Jakes wield spiritual and social clout, the allegations stir hard questions in Christian and mainstream circles about accountability, credibility, and the fragile bond of trust between clergy, congregants, and peers.
With neither side yielding, this clash could fracture the very faith that holds these communities together, forcing faithful congregants and casual observers to reckon with who bears the cost when trust collapses.
