US televangelist Jim Bakker, disgraced from sex scandal and fraud, dies at 86

What the report says

US televangelist Jim Bakker has died at the age of 86, according to an announcement on Monday by his second wife, Lori Bakker. BBC News reported that he was known for helping build a large Christian broadcasting operation with his then-wife Tammy Faye, including The PTL Club, which at its height drew millions of viewers a day.

The program and the couple’s wider ministry made Bakker a major religious media figure in the 1970s and 1980s. BBC News said their enterprise expanded into a large staff and the Heritage USA theme park complex in South Carolina, and that the Bakkers were also known for an extravagant lifestyle.

His public reputation later collapsed after a sex scandal involving former church secretary Jessica Hahn and a payment made with ministry funds. Bakker resigned from PTL in 1987 and was later convicted in 1989 of mail and wire fraud and conspiracy connected to the ministry’s finances. He served more than four years in prison.

After his release, Bakker returned to ministry work, later launching new television projects with Lori Bakker. The BBC report says Lori described him as a pioneer of Christian television, but did not give a cause of death. His life and career remain significant as an example of the rise and fall of a major American televangelist figure.