THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020574
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
His penance all but paid, former TV evangelist Jim Bakker could be back in the pulpit soon alongside his daughter.
Bakker, who served 4 1/2 years in prison, a month at a halfway house and four months under house arrest for bilking followers of his PTL television ministry out of millions, became a free man at the stroke of midnight Wednesday.
But the fallen preacher, who rose to fame in front of a TV camera, spent his first day of freedom since 1989 in seclusion at his mountain home in western North Carolina, where had been living under house arrest. ``He's been sitting in jail for five years, so a few more days by himself doesn't matter,'' his lawyer Chris Nichols said. Bakker, 54, still must complete five years' probation. The preacher has been quiet about his plans, but his daughter, Tammy Sue Chapman, recently hinted to supporters of her singing ministry that her father may join her in the pulpit. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Bakker
by CNB