An embattled celebrity pastor is facing even more allegations that he sexually assaulted men as he accuses one of his alleged victims of trying to defame him.

TD Jakes, 67, the senior pastor of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, filed a defamation lawsuit against Duane Youngblood, 58, for claiming on a podcast last year that the megachurch leader tried to corner him and involuntary kiss him more than 40 years ago.

But now others, including Youngblood’s brother Richard, are coming forward with their own allegations that Jakes sexually assaulted them as Youngblood seeks to get the suit dismissed.

Among those who filed affidavits in support of Youngblood are Timothy Anderson, 57, of Florida.

He claims that he shared a room with Youngblood when they both attended a conference Jakes was hosting in 1996.

Anderson said Jakes had just asked him to move to Dallas to serve as a youth pastor, and he shared that request with Youngblood – whom he knew through the Higher Ground Always Abounding Organization, where he served as a youth evangelist for about four years.

But during the conference, Youngblood warned him to be careful of unwanted advances from Jakes as he shared what he allegedly experienced, according to the affidavit obtained by the Christian Post. 

Still, Anderson said the chance to work for Jakes felt like the opportunity of a lifetime and he launched at the opportunity, even though he would make one-third of the salary he was netting as an evangelist.

TD Jakes, 67, the senior pastor of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, has been hit with even more allegations that he sexually assaulted men

He explained that Jakes also promised he would be able to supplement his income by taking on assignments outside of his youth pastor duties.

‘I arrived in Dallas, eager to work alongside Bishop Jakes and excited about the future,’ Anderson said in the affidavit.

‘However, my first encounter with him in his new mansion, when I was tasked with assembling furniture, set the tone for a new kind of discomfort.

‘While I had hoped to discuss ministry with him, to learn from him as a mentor, something unexpected happened. At one point, he went into the bathroom and when he returned, passed by me naked,’ Anderson claimed.

‘I was stunned. I turned away, trying to downplay the situation in my mind. This was Bishop Jakes after all – this opportunity was a dream come true, or at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

‘I didn’t want to make things awkward. I didn’t want to be seen as homophobic or judgmental. I told myself that I couldn’t let a single uncomfortable moment ruin this chance to learn from one of the greatest preachers of my generation.’

But more and more uncomfortable situations arose, until one day Jakes tried to kiss him, Anderson alleged.

He recounted how he was offered an opportunity in Japan, but Jakes allegedly told him he couldn’t go because it would interfere with his duties at The Potter’s House.

He filed a defamation lawsuit against Duane Youngblood, 58, for claiming on a podcast last year that the megachurch leader tried to corner him and involuntary kiss him more than 40 years ago

Duane (right) is now trying to get the case dismissed, as his brother, Richard (left) wrote an affidavit alleging Jakes tried to sexually assault him too

Anderson said that when he reminded the bishop that he agreed to let him supplement his income with other preaching assignments, Jakes made it clear he needed to choose between working as a youth pastor or going back to being an evangelist.

The choice was so overwhelming, Anderson said he began to cry.

‘I knew from my past experiences – experiences that have caused so much pain – that this wasn’t just a decision about ministry or a job. It was about power, control and manipulation,’ he wrote in the affidavit.

‘The more I thought about it, the more I broke down emotionally.

‘I paced his office trying to make sense of everything, trying to breathe through the overwhelming sadness. As I walked back and forth trying to process what was happening, Bishop Jakes stood up, grabbed a box of tissues and walked toward me.

‘His words were cold, calculated: “It sounds like you have a decision to make.”

‘And then, in a move that left me paralyzed with confusion, he grabbed me and tried to kiss me,’ he alleged.

‘My mind was racing.

Jakes, seen with Steve Harvey in 2009, claimed the allegations of him sexually assaulting the brothers decades ago were an attempt at extorting him and defamatory 

‘Emotionally distraught, I pushed him away and tried to regain some control over my emotions.’

But Anderson said he continued to cry, hoping that Jakes would show him compassion – something he says never came.

‘The tissues were placed in front of me like a symbol of my brokenness and I told him how much I loved him, how difficult this decision was for me. I was trying to hold onto whatever shred of dignity I had left.

‘But his response was chilling. He reminded me again that it was his ministry, his leadership and that if he gave me what I wanted – my chance to go to Japan – then I wouldn’t understand the principles of authority.’

Two weeks later, though, Anderson said he made the ‘difficult decision to return to evangelism.’ 

Richard had claimed the megachurch pastor preyed upon him when they shared a hotel room

Dustin Pusch, an attorney representing Jakes,  denied the claims as he branded Anderson a ‘unreliable ally’ of the Youngbloods.

‘In a desperate attempt to avoid accountability for his knowingly false accusations and to distract from his reprehensible conduct, Mr. Youngblood has enlisted felons, family members and other completely unreliable allies to lob yet more false accusations at Mr. Jakes,’ he said in a statement to the Dallas Morning News.

Duane’s brother, Richard, had also claimed that Jakes sexually assaulted him once when they were sharing a hotel room. 

‘[Jakes] secured a room with two beds in it, and we went to the room for the night. That night, while I was laying in my bed, I felt Elder Jakes climb into my bed,’ Richard alleged.

‘He pressed his body against mine and asked, ‘Youngblood, do you feel that?’ He was referencing his erection that he was pressing against my backside.

‘I got up out of bed in complete shock as he also [got] up from the opposite side and met me. He grabbed me by my arms and pulled me to him and started trying to kiss me. At this point, I cannot believe what is happening to me.’ 

Both men are now supporting Duane Youngblood against Jakes’ claims that he defamed the pastor when he spoke out in an October podcast interview with Larry Reid that Jakes assaulted him when he was 18 or 19 years old.

He claimed that the attack came after he had been speaking with Jakes for around two hours at the home of an elderly female clergywoman, when Jakes then tried to kiss him. 

Jakes said the allegations have caused his wife of 43 years pain

The next morning, Youngblood claimed Jakes called his home and, while ‘sitting in a bathtub’, intimated that he wanted a relationship. 

‘He says to me, without any hesitation, “there’s three things I need you to do. The first one is, when I come to Pittsburgh, you’re going to be the only person I sleep with,”‘ Youngblood claimed to Reid. 

‘The second one is, you can’t sleep with anybody else because I don’t want to give my wife anything. And thirdly, I will take care of you the rest of your life.” 

‘I got up out of bed in complete shock as he also [got] up from the opposite side and met me. He grabbed me by my arms and pulled me to him and started trying to kiss me. At this point, I cannot believe what is happening to me.’ 

Jakes denied the initial allegations that gave rise to his defamation claim and those of the brothers.

He branded their claims a ‘campaign of lies’ and said the brothers were trying to extort $6 million from him, and insisted he has never ‘harbored carnal desires for these men.’

‘The pain it has caused my wife of 43 years and my five children, whom I have always loved, nurtured, and provided for, is simply too much to bear,’ the bishop claimed. 

‘Every person has a breaking point. I have reached mine. I authorized this lawsuit because I can no longer remain silent.’ 

Jakes, seen with radio host Charlamagne Tha God, said in an affidavit that he ‘never tried to corner, grab, or kiss any teenagers’

The pastor had also claimed that Richard is just seeking revenge for not supporting his younger brother when he was being prosecuted for sex crimes – an allegation Richard denies.

‘I never wavered in my account of the incident in the EconoLodge in Westover, WV’ he claims. 

‘The fact that I shared what happened with a church elder immediately after the incident… shows that I was not fabricating this decades later for personal gain.

‘If my intentions were deceitful, why would I have confided in others at that time.’