Scandal-plagued Jim Bakker, who built a television empire with ex-wife Tammy Faye, dies a

Controversial televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a Christian television empire, died Monday at the age of 86.

‘It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening,’ his wife, Lori Bakker, wrote.

Lori said Bakker’s final moments were filled with faith after he devoted 66 years of his life to preaching the gospel.

Bakker was best known for hosting The PTL Club, a popular Christian show in the 1970s to late 1980s short for Praise the Lord, as well as developing Heritage USA, the now-defunct Christian theme park.

The show was launched with his ex-wife, Tammy Faye, before the empire was hit with scandal.

Bakker handed in his resignation to the ministry in 1987 after allegedly paying $200,000 hush money to a church secretary, Jessica Hahn, who said she had been sexually assaulted by Bakker.

Bakker disputed her account of a sexual assault, he also published a book, I Was Wrong, in which he claimed that the sex was consensual. 

Just two years later, he was involved in another scandal after he was convicted in 1989 on 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy after raising and misusing $400 million in ministry funds. 

Jim Bakker, who built a Christian television empire, died Monday at the age of 86

‘It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening,’ his wife, Lori Bakker, (Pictured) wrote 

Bakker was best known for hosting The PTL Club, which he launched with his ex-wife, Tammy Faye (Pictured)

He was sentenced to 45 years in prison and ordered to pay a $500,000 fine. 

He appealed his sentenced and was granted a reduction of just eight years, ultimately only serving about five years before he was released. 

Faye, who shared two children with Bakker, divorced him while he was incarcerated.

Shortly after Roe Messner, the contractor who built Heritage USA, however he was also sentenced to over two years in prison for bankruptcy fraud. 

Faye announced in 2005 that she had cancer and made a final run of TV appearances before she died in 2007. 

Following Bakkers release, he began launching a new ministry called Morningside in the Ozarks of Missouri. 

In 2003 he brought on his second wife, Lori, to host his daily TV show, The Jim Bakker Show, before the couple began selling doomsday products for the ‘end of the world’. 

‘Even in his final days, his heart was still for the work of God and for the Gospel to continue reaching the world,’ wrote Lori on Monday.

‘Our family is grieving and we ask for your prayers and privacy during this time.’

Hahn went on to pose for Playboy magazine several times and made regular appearances on The Howard Stern Show for years afterward.