Jim Bakker, famed televangelist who later went to prison, dies at 86

Televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar Christian television empire before his career collapsed amid sex and financial scandals, has died at 86.

Bakker’s wife, Lori Bakker, announced his death on Monday evening in a statement posted to the Jim Bakker Show’s Facebook page but did not reveal a cause of death.

“It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening,” she wrote.

Bakker rose to national fame alongside his then-wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, hosting popular Christian television programmes including The PTL Club.

Their Praise the Lord ministry eventually grew to include Heritage USA, a Christian theme park in South Carolina.

At its peak, PTL brought in more than $128 million annually and reached millions of television viewers, according to CNN.

Bakker resigned from PTL in 1987 after a sex and financial scandal involving secretary Jessica Hahn.

He was later convicted of 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to 45 years in prison, although he served less than five years.

“I wanted people to believe in my dream, and my dream became more important than the people,” Bakker told CNN in 2000.

He later returned to televangelism with The Jim Bakker Show, alongside Lori.