Jessica Hahn (born July 7, 1959 in Massapequa, New York) is a model, actress, and former church secretary best known for her sex scandal with televangelist Jim Bakker.
According to Hahn, on the afternoon of December 6, 1980, when she was a 21-year-old church secretary, she was drugged and raped by Bakker and another preacher, John Wesley Fletcher, for “about 15 minutes.” Later, she overheard Bakker comment to another PTL staffer, “Did you get her too?”
In a 1997 book, “I Was Wrong,” Bakker disputes this account, claiming that he was “set up” and that the sex was consensual.
Hahn burst into the media limelight following Bakker’s announcement on March 19, 1987 that he was stepping down as head of PTL and Heritage USA, pending the imminent disclosure of the sexual encounter and that he would be replaced by televangelist Jerry Falwell. Investigative journalists and auditors hired by Falwell uncovered $265,000 in hush money paid to Hahn as well as serious financial irregularities that led to the collapse of the PTL empire and Bakker’s conviction.
