American televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar evangelical television empire before sex and financial scandals brought down his ministry and sent him to prison for fraud, died Monday at 86, his family said.
Bakker became one of the most recognizable faces in American religious broadcasting alongside his then-wife, Tammy Faye Bakker. The couple rose to national fame through “The PTL Club,” a Christian television program launched in the 1970s that grew into a sprawling religious and business enterprise.
Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker
(Photo: AP)
Their ministry eventually included a satellite television network and Heritage USA, a vast Christian theme park and resort in South Carolina that became one of the most prominent symbols of the Bakkers’ success. Their increasingly lavish lifestyle, financed as the ministry solicited donations from viewers, also drew mounting scrutiny.
The empire began to unravel in 1987 after revelations emerged about a payment connected to church secretary Jessica Hahn, who accused Bakker of sexual assault. Bakker denied raping her. The scandal forced him to step down from PTL, while investigations into the ministry’s finances exposed much broader allegations of financial misconduct.
In 1989, a federal jury convicted Bakker on 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from his fundraising operation. Prosecutors accused PTL of selling more than 150,000 “lifetime partnerships” promising lodging at Heritage USA while failing to build enough accommodation to fulfill those commitments.
Bakker was initially sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $500,000. An appeals court later ordered a new sentencing hearing, and his prison term was reduced to eight years. He ultimately served nearly five years before being paroled in 1994.
Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992 while he was in prison. She later remarried and remained a prominent cultural figure until her death from cancer in 2007. Bakker married Lori Beth Graham in 1998.
Despite the spectacular collapse of his first ministry, Bakker eventually returned to television, launching “The Jim Bakker Show” in 2003 and once again building an audience around evangelical Christianity, prophecy and apocalyptic themes. His later career ensured that he remained a controversial presence in American religious broadcasting decades after the scandal that had appeared to end it.
Announcing his death, Lori Bakker said her husband had “finished his race with faith” after dedicating decades of his life to Christian ministry. His son, Jay Bakker, also confirmed his death.