“Ex-gay” Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor Donnie McClurkin, who rose to fame with an early endorsement by Oprah Winfrey and appearances at the Republican National Convention and with then-candidate Barack Obama, allegedly raped his male assistant, according to a new lawsuit filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The alleged victim, Giuseppe Corletto, was 21 when he met McClurkin (who is now 66) at his Long Island church in 2004. Corletto said he felt drawn to the charismatic preacher and singer after reading his memoir, Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor, which described how God helped him overcome the “curse” of homosexuality.

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McClurkin “talked about being raped as a child, which resonated with me because that’s similar to my story,” Corletto told NBC News.

McClurkin gained greater national notoriety when, in 2007, the campaign of then-candidate Barack Obama included McClurkin in a “Gospel Tour” in South Carolina to appeal to Black evangelical voters. After LGBTQ+ activists complained about McClurkin’s anti-LGBTQ+ views, Obama admitted that the singer hadn’t been vetted as much as he would’ve liked; the campaign added an out gay pastor on the tour in response to criticisms.

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McClurkin and Corletto met after an unrelated church event, and Corletto says McClurkin took an immediate interest in him. The singer hired him as his assistant.

“At first, it was all very innocent and what I thought [was] mentoring,” Corletto said in the interview.

McClurkin began to molest Corletto during “pray the gay away” spiritual sessions, the lawsuit says. The abuse escalated over several years. During a trip to Niagara Falls in 2013, Corletto says he was raped.

Last year, Corletto discovered an email from McClurkin apologizing for the incident. That email prompted Corletto’s lawsuit, and freed the victim from years of blaming himself for the alleged abuse.

“I didn’t make this up. I wasn’t crazy,” Corletto said. “I felt vindicated in some ways…. He’s literally admitting to his guilt.”

“I know I apologized for my wrong attitude from wednesday….but I want to apologize for all of my behavior that has been wrong and put you in a wrong place,” McClurkin wrote in the email, according to the lawsuit.

“I am the actual epitome of a desperate dirty ‘old man’, pawning and groping a young man who is just looking for a friendship and close plutonic relationship with someone he wants looks to for help, guidance and spirituality…. I feel so foul… so stupid,” McClurkin added.

As well as another allegation of rape that took place in a hotel room in California — McClurkin told Corletto at the time that he was on medication and didn’t remember anything — the suit details incidents of alleged abuse at McClurkin’s house of worship.

The preacher would “secretly grope” Corletto before speaking to his congregation, causing McClurkin to cry during the service, according to the lawsuit. He would then use those tears to “encourage other congregants to openly express emotion,” the suit claims.

An attorney for McClurkin called Corletto’s allegations “categorically false.”

“At no time did Pastor McClurkin engage in any form of sexual abuse, assault, or sexual coercion of Mr. Corletto,” attorney Greg Lisi said in a statement. “The claims set forth in the lawsuit grossly mischaracterize their interactions, which occurred over a decade, and some accusations over 2 decades, ago. All these allegations are contradicted by the real facts.”

Corletto says over the course his relationship with McClurkin, “I was brainwashed to think that my deliverance was wrapped up in him.”

Throughout, McClurkin would justify his actions based on Biblical examples like Elisha and Elijah, who also had mentors guiding them. “There was a lot of biblical manipulation,” Corletto said.

His lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, said he hopes the lawsuit will provide Corletto with compensation, closure, and “some measure of justice for what happened to him.”

McClurkin “took advantage” of someone who was “confused and had problems accepting his sexuality coupled with his religious beliefs,” Giuffra said. “It’s really very sad.”

Corletto says he’s come to terms with the abuse, and he’s married now.

“Ever since I did embrace my sexuality and stopped trying to change it, the weight of suicide has left me,” he said.

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