US televangelist Jim Bakker, disgraced from sex scandal and fraud, dies at 86

US televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar media empire before being jailed for fraud and conspiracy, has died aged 86. Bakker and his then-wife Tammy Faye founded a Christian television programme called The PTL Club in 1974, which at its peak attracted 13 million viewers per day. The 86-year-old's death was announced on Monday by his second wife Lori Bakker, who described him as "a pioneer of Christian television". By the late 80s, Bakker and Tammy Faye's empire began to fall apart after he became embroiled in a sex scandal and later convicted of mail and wire fraud. Tammy Faye, who divorced him in 1992, was never charged.