A young Cuban immigrant has accused Frederick "the Rev. Ike" Eikerenkoetter, a Christian evangelist nationally known for his fleet of multicolored Rolls-Royce autos, of sexually abusing him while he worked as the minister's personal assistant at his luxury Bal Harbour, Fla., condominium.

Augusto Medina's lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court alleges that the Rev. Ike, as he's commonly known, forced Medina to fondle him on several occasions and to perform oral sex on him. The allegations of the suit are similar to those in a 1995 sexual harassment suit against the Rev. Ike that was filed by his former personal assistant in New York.
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Medina, who was in his mid-20s when he was hired by the Rev. Ike, came to Miami from Cuba on a raft about 10 years ago. According to attorney Jennifer Ator, ... the young man spent several months at the Krome Detention Center after his arrival, and later struggled to learn English and make a living.

The suit says Medina was hired by the Rev. Ike in 2001 as the minister's personal assistant. He was paid $10 an hour in cash. His duties included driving the evangelist, manicuring his nails, dressing him and giving him massages....

Initially, Medina was delighted with the job, Ator said. But in August 2002, after Medina had been working for the Rev. Ike for about a year, the minister began to pressure the assistant for oral sex, Ator said in an interview. Medina refused and was fired, only to be rehired in 2003, she said.

It was during his second stint as the Rev. Ike's assistant that the alleged sexual contact occurred. According to the lawsuit, Medina was giving the Rev. Ike a massage, when the minister lifted up his towel and placed Medina's hand on his penis. Medina alleges that that was the first of at least half a dozen instances of unwanted sexual contacts between himself and the evangelist.

"Rev. Ike told Medina that if he did not perform sexual acts on Rev. Ike that he would be fired," the complaint says. "Medina -- afraid that he would lose his job -- performed sex acts on Rev. Ike."

Rev. Ike couldn't wait for his heavenly reward—

Preaching prosperity through Jesus, the Rev. Ike rejected the idea of waiting for riches in heaven. Instead, the minister urged his followers to bask in material wealth in the here and now.

The pompadour-topped, flamboyantly dressed evangelist brought his sermons to the radio and TV evangelism circuit, rising to popularity in the 1970s. In addition to founding the Boston-based evangelistic association, he started the Palace Cathedral, an opulent New York City church, replete with antique Louis XV and XVI furniture and a seven-story-high organ.

That is a remarkable organ.

Labels: Christian preachers, prosperity gospel, religion, sexual harassment, television evangelists, workplace harassment