According to the Charlotte Observer:
A 22-year-old man has accused his former Rutherford County church of holding him for four months against his will while he was physically and emotionally abused because he is gay.
According to the video, the young man in question lived on the facility and describes the living conditions as “jail.”
“The doors were locked, it was jail,” he said. “You weren’t allowed to speak to your family. Many of the men had wives and children but they weren’t able to communicate with them.” Blastings [screaming prayers] were common, he said.
While this church was investigated in the past, it has been exonerated on all all past allegations and say:
Lowry’s former pastor, Jane Whaley, said Sunday that all of his allegations are “lies.”
Whaley said Lowry was not held or beaten. She said the church only learned that he was gay when his family did – after watching a news report by an Asheville television station Thursday.
