Jim Bakker Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Sexual misconduct and resignation==== A $279,000 payoff for the silence of [[Jessica Hahn]], who alleged that Bakker and former ''PTL Club'' co-host [[John Wesley Fletcher]] [[Date rape|drugged and raped]] her, was paid with PTL funds through Bakker's associate [[Roe Messner]].<ref name=Time12-1988 /><ref>{{cite news |title=Larry King Live Interview with Jessica Hahn (rush transcript) |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/14/lkl.01.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |work=[[Larry King Live]] |date=July 14, 2005 |access-date=July 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821011040/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/14/lkl.01.html |archive-date=August 21, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker, who made PTL's financial decisions, allegedly kept [[two sets of books]] to conceal accounting irregularities. Reporters for ''[[The Charlotte Observer]]'', led by Charles Shepard, investigated PTL's finances and published a series of articles.<ref>{{cite magazine| first=Richard N.| last=Ostling| title=Enterprising Evangelism| date=August 3, 1987| url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,965155,00.html| magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| access-date=January 27, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212091610/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0%2C8816%2C965155%2C00.html| archive-date=February 12, 2007| url-status=dead}}</ref> On March 19, 1987, after the disclosure of a payoff to Hahn, Bakker resigned from PTL.<ref name=Time12-1988>{{cite magazine | last=Ostling | first=Richard N. | author-link=Richard N. Ostling | title=Jim Bakker's Crumbling World | date=December 19, 1988 | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956551,00.html | access-date=December 5, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220084524/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956551,00.html | archive-date=February 20, 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Although he acknowledged that he had a sexual encounter with Hahn at a hotel room in [[Clearwater, Florida]], he denied raping her.<ref name=Ostling/> Bakker was also the subject of [[homosexual]] and [[bisexual]] allegations made by Fletcher and PTL director Jay Babcock, which Bakker denied [[under oath]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Report: Former Co-Host Fletcher Says Bakker Bisexual|url=https://www.apnews.com/1edbfbf8ad79965c9a80bcc1f98c97bf/|date=December 5, 1988|website=[[AP News]]|access-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223106/https://www.apnews.com/1edbfbf8ad79965c9a80bcc1f98c97bf/|archive-date=January 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ex PTL Employee Testifies He Had Sex With Bakker|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/09/22/ex-ptl-employee-testifies-he-had-sex-with-bakker/33c99727-bffe-43c0-ac57-c1dc9751fe51/|date=September 22, 1988|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|access-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419162329/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/09/22/ex-ptl-employee-testifies-he-had-sex-with-bakker/33c99727-bffe-43c0-ac57-c1dc9751fe51/|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Rival televangelist [[John Ankerberg]] appeared on ''[[Larry King Live]]'' and made several allegations of moral impropriety against Bakker, which both Bakkers denied.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bakker Issues Denial of Rival TV Minister's New Sex Allegations|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-26/news/mn-1576_1_jim-bakker/|date=April 26, 1987|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529055750/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-26/news/mn-1576_1_jim-bakker|archive-date=May 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker was succeeded as PTL head by the Rev. [[Jerry Falwell]] of [[Thomas Road Baptist Church]] in [[Lynchburg, Virginia]].<ref name=Ostling>{{cite magazine|last=Ostling|first=Richard N.|author-link=Richard N. Ostling|title=Taking Command at Fort Mill|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964322-1,00.html|date=May 11, 1987|access-date=November 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308110637/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964322-1,00.html|archive-date=March 8, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bakker chose Falwell as his successor because he feared that fellow televangelist [[Jimmy Swaggart]], who had initiated an Assemblies of God investigation into Bakker's sexual misconduct, was attempting to take over his ministry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/03/24/Fire-and-brimstone-evangelist-Jimmy-Swaggart-admitted-today-he-instigated-a/5623543560400/|work=[[United Press International]]|title=Fire-and-brimstone evangelist Jimmy Swaggart admitted today he instigated a...|date=March 24, 1987|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101193824/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/03/24/Fire-and-brimstone-evangelist-Jimmy-Swaggart-admitted-today-he-instigated-a/5623543560400/|archive-date=January 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker believed that Falwell would temporarily lead the ministry until the scandal died down,<ref name="ATC"/> but on April 28, 1987, Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL upon hearing of allegations of illicit behavior which went beyond the Hahn allegations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501365.html?noredirect=on|last=Harris|first=Art|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Falwell Takes Control, Bars Bakker From PTL|date=April 29, 1987|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101145401/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501365.html?noredirect=on|archive-date=January 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that summer, as donations declined sharply in the wake of Bakker's resignation and the end of ''The PTL Club'', Falwell raised $20 million to keep Heritage USA solvent and took a promised [[water slide]] ride at the park.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,965543,00.html | title=American Notes: Fund Raising | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=September 21, 1987 | access-date=November 29, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212141215/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,965543,00.html | archive-date=February 12, 2005 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Falwell and the remaining members of the PTL board resigned in October 1987, stating that a ruling from a [[bankruptcy court]] judge made rebuilding the ministry impossible.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/09/us/falwell-quits-warning-ptl-ministry-may-end.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Falwell Quits, Warning PTL Ministry May End|date=October 9, 1987|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101145239/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/09/us/falwell-quits-warning-ptl-ministry-may-end.html|archive-date=January 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to the scandal, Falwell called Bakker a liar, an [[embezzlement|embezzler]], a sexual deviant, and "the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-vkVdJPN4wC&pg=PA126|title=The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan|first=Eric R.|last=Crouse|year= 2013|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield#Imprints|Lexington Books]]|via=[[Google Books]]|isbn=9780739182222}}</ref> On [[CNN]], Swaggart stated that Bakker was a "cancer in the body of Christ".<ref name="ATC">{{cite news |title=Son of Jim and Tammy Faye Finds His Own 'Grace' |quote=Jim Bakker is a cancer in the body of Christ |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/15/132864466/jim-and-tammy-fayes-son-finds-his-own-grace |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=January 15, 2011 |access-date=February 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213084653/https://www.npr.org/2011/01/15/132864466/jim-and-tammy-fayes-son-finds-his-own-grace |archive-date=February 13, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 1988, Swaggart became involved in a sex scandal of his own after being caught visiting prostitutes in [[New Orleans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/22/us/swaggart-says-he-has-sinned-will-step-down.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Swaggart Says He Has Sinned; Will Step Down|last=King|first=Wayne|date=February 22, 1988|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101145243/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/22/us/swaggart-says-he-has-sinned-will-step-down.html|archive-date=January 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Bakker and Swaggart scandals had a profound effect on the world of televangelism, causing greater media scrutiny of TV ministers and their finances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/crystal-cathedral-founder-robert-schuller-dies-at-88/2015/04/02/61b96702-d970-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488_story.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Crystal Cathedral founder Robert Schuller dies at 88|last1=Singh|first1=Lisa|last2=Banks|first2=Adelle M.|date=April 2, 2015|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412034441/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/crystal-cathedral-founder-robert-schuller-dies-at-88/2015/04/02/61b96702-d970-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488_story.html|archive-date=April 12, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Falwell said that the scandals had "strengthened broadcast evangelism and made Christianity stronger, more mature and more committed."<ref>{{cite news | title=Preacher Scandals Strengthen TV Evangelism, Falwell Says | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=March 19, 1988 | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73577139.html?dids=73577139:73577139&FMT=ABS&FMTS | access-date=December 5, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103120420/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73577139.html?dids=73577139:73577139&FMT=ABS&FMTS | archive-date=November 3, 2012 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/09/The-Rev-Jerry-Falwell-returning-to-Heritage-USA-to/8017560750400/|title=The Rev. Jerry Falwell, returning to Heritage USA to ...|work=[[United Press International]]|date=October 9, 1987|access-date=December 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203153805/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/09/The-Rev-Jerry-Falwell-returning-to-Heritage-USA-to/8017560750400/|archive-date=December 3, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page