By Rebecca Johnson // Controversy // EEW Magazine Online

Recent shocking allegations have been swirling around a high-profile Christian family, but there has been no official word addressing the damaging accusations – until now.

The family of Bishop T.D. Jakes is speaking out through a representative in response to two separate claims, both linked to Bishop Jakes’ eldest daughter, Cora Jakes, 34, and her ex-husband, Richard Brandon Coleman, 33, also known as rapper, SkiiVentura.

Initially, it was revealed that Richard had been arrested for ongoing sexual abuse of one of his and Cora’s adopted minor children—which precipitated the Coleman’s divorce earlier this year.

Not long after, a Texas woman identifying herself as Michelle Loud, the birth mother of the Coleman’s 7-year-old adopted son, Jason, uploaded a tearful video online. In it, Loud, a hairdresser, claimed that while she was homeless and battling postpartum depression, Cora took advantage of her by using spiritual manipulation to convince the struggling single mother that it was God’s will to give up her child.

Loud said the powerful minister and prayer warrior “told me that she was only there to help me after I had Jason” but instead was “set up from the beginning” with Cora “constantly telling me that I didn’t have my son for myself.”

In her public video, the accuser also said she did not know how to “deal with” postpartum depression, and Cora “preyed on my vulnerability,” using Loud’s unstable circumstances and mental state against her in court.

The Jakes family, however, calls Loud’s allegations “slanderous attempts to smear Cora Jakes,” according to a statement published by The Christian Post.

“Her children were properly adopted through a multi-year process with numerous checks and reviews,” continues the statement. “This process is afforded to anyone in the United States of America and there was no preferential treatment given to Cora. Any claims to the contrary are false and defamatory. As adoptions are bound by law, the applicable documents and court proceedings preclude detailed public commentary.”

As previously reported by EEW Magazine Online, Cora, who directs the children’s ministry at The Potter’s House, documented on her infertility struggles on her blog, “Fertility Faith,” which she began writing at age 24.

In a blog dated January 14, 2012, Cora wrote, “I was twenty-two years old when I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was twenty-three when I was diagnosed with infertility. I was twenty-four when I started my first in-vitro fertilization cycle, and December 19th 2011 at 2:45 pm, I found out that it didn’t work out, and I was not pregnant. My world in that moment shattered.”

It was through adoption that Cora achieved her dream of motherhood –something she openly celebrated, regularly posting family photos on social media to document happy moments shared by the Coleman family. But the bliss abruptly ended in January when Cora released a divorce announcement. At the time, no cause for the split was disclosed.

Now it is known that Richard was taken into custody on May 4 on child abuse charges and remains at Wayne McCollum Detention Center in Waxahachie, Texas.

His bond is set a $150,000.

Through their rep, the Jakes family said, “Here are the facts as we know them today. Cora’s ex-husband is in jail, charged with the sexual abuse of a child. He is in jail because the family immediately reported the abuse to law enforcement authorities and has cooperated at every level with law enforcement and the prosecution.

“The family acted swiftly and without hesitation as they strongly believe in zero tolerance for any kind of abuse. This matter does not involve The Potter’s House. Cora is personally devastated by the events and deserves the privacy and respect of someone who wrestles with feeling responsible for events for which she had no control.” 

Expressing disdain for the circulation of Loud’s story detailing alleged spiritual manipulation, the statement adds, “The Jakes family is attempting to heal itself, the minor child that has been abused, and the adults who are also traumatized by these events. It is unfortunate that perpetuating baseless gossip will only risk greater pain and injury to the minor as this child will have to explain to others in the future what was written about them, even though the child has no voice today.”

In conclusion, the family requested prayer “as they focus on healing.”