On this day, March 19, 1987, Jim Bakker resigned from PTL.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: http://closely68.rssing.com/chan-33160886/all_p3.html

Jim Bakker

{snip}

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 drugged and raped her, was paid with PTL's funds through Bakker's associate Roe Messner. Bakker, who made the PTL organization's financial decisions, allegedly kept two sets of books to conceal accounting irregularities. The Charlotte Observer reporters, led by Charles Shepard, investigated the PTL organization's finances and published a series of articles.

On March 19, 1987, after the disclosure of a payoff to Hahn, Bakker resigned from PTL. Although he acknowledged that he had a sexual encounter with Hahn at a hotel room in Clearwater, Florida, he denied raping her. Bakker was the subject of homosexual and bisexual allegations made by John Wesley Fletcher and PTL director Jay Babcock, which he denied under oath. Rival televangelist John Ankerberg appeared on Larry King Live and made several allegations against Bakker, which both Bakkers denied.

Bakker was succeeded as PTL head by Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell. He chose Falwell as his successor because he feared that fellow Pentecostal pastor Jimmy Swaggart was attempting to take over his ministry. Swaggart had initiated a church investigation into Bakker over allegations of Bakker's sexual misconduct.

Bakker believed that Falwell would temporarily lead the ministry until the scandal died down, but Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL on April 28, 1987. Later that summer, as donations declined sharply in the wake of Bakker's resignation and the end of the Bakkers' PTL Club TV program, Falwell raised $20 million to keep PTL solvent and took a promised water slide ride at Heritage USA. 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.

{snip}

[jls4561]

1. Why'd was he let out of jail? I mean, EVER!

[SCantiGOP]

2. He said he was sent to jail for "bookkeeping mistakes"

Those mistakes included selling condos at their PTL campus to sometimes three different people.
Classic pyramid scheme - they hoped to build new units with the money they took in from double/triple selling the same units. But, as always happens, they ended up spending the money on essentials (like his private jet), and when sales slowed, the Holy Shit hit the fan.

[empedocles]

3. Some plagues very slow to go away

[Mme. Defarge]

4. Praise the Lord!

[Bengus81]

5. I've been with a Whooore!!

He spewed that line if I remember right. Still remember the day the shit hit the fan and strolling out to the driveway to get the paper and opened it up and WTF!!

And then Bwahahahhahaaaaaa!!!

[nolabear]

6. I had my younger son a few days later.

I distinctly remember being in labor and laughing between contractions at the replays of that little weasel being hauled off. Here we are 33 years later and it’s same as it ever was.

[MuseRider]

7. My brother and I used to watch that show in the morning

and we would talk to each other and laugh all the time about how silly it was. We spent some long distance money on those calls but we certainly had a fun time. It made us kinda sad when it was all over.

I will ask like someone up thread did, why was he ever let out? Still selling crap to people for his own benefit!

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. PTL Pass The Loot.

[Archae]

9. Bakker is back on the air, scamming.

He sells this silver solution he claims will cure coronavirus and AIDS.

That's in addition to his preaching that "the end of Civilization is near" so we're all going to need his over-priced freeze-dried food.