What happened between Jim Bakker and Jessica Hahn?
In 1980 Jim Bakker had a “15-20 minute sexual encounter” with Jessica Hahn in a hotel room in Florida. Several years later Hahn contacted PTL threatening to reveal the story. She was emotionally distraught and said she had been drugged and raped. Jim Bakker disputed the rape charges in his book, I Was Wrong, but admitted to the affair. In 1985 $265,000 was diverted from ministry funds by Richard Dortch, the President of PTL, through Roe Messner, PTL’s main construction contractor, and paid to a California firm that was supposed to set up a $100,000 trust fund for Jessica Hahn. The contract negotiations were never completed but the money was still paid out. Charles Shepard of the Charlotte Observer later uncovered the story and published it on March 19, 1987, causing the resignation of Jim and Tammy Bakker from PTL.
