Yesterday, I thought it was quite suspicious that the three men who accused Bishop Eddie Long of sexual misconduct filed civil suits (money) instead of a criminal charges (jail time). Well, it appears that if you are 16 in the state of Georgia, you can legally consent to sexual activity with an adult over the age 18.  Therefore the young men in this case cannot file sexual molestation or statutory rape charges. In fact this means that they consented to sexual misconduct with Bishop Eddie Long, or as they have stated were coerced into this behavior by a man of the cloth. Thanks you Renee for the information:

The reason criminal charges can’t be filed against Bishop Long is because the legal age of consensual sex is 16 in Georgia.  So technically it was not molestation.

[Anthony Flagg (21) and Maurice Robinson (20) via Sandra Rose]

To the members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, I am really trying to be objective and hold my tongue. I want to be fair as fair as possible to Bishop Eddie Long, but almost all cases where pastors have been accused of these activities have ended with a guilty verdict and an apology. That doesn’t mean Bishop Eddie Long is guilty, but in a court of public opinion these cases are usually guilty until proven innocent, and not vice versa. Anyway, I will try to choose my words more carefully than usual.