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'''John Wesley Fletcher''' (January 24, 1940 – June 21, 1996) was an American [[defrocked]] [[Assemblies of God]] pastor, known for his role in the PTL scandal involving [[Jessica Hahn]] and [[Jim Bakker]].
Fletcher was born in [[Durham, North Carolina]] in 1940. He dropped out of high school at the age of 21 and worked a number of jobs, including driving an ambulance, working as a party [[clown]], and he claimed to have run a topless bar. He left Durham in 1970, after being convicted for writing bad checks five times and facing lawsuits for unpaid debts.<ref></ref>
During the 1970s, Fletcher became an Assemblies of God pastor with an evangelical foundation located in [[Oklahoma City]] and started making regular appearances on the ''[[PTL Club]]'' television program towards the end of the decade.<ref name="news OK1"></ref> In 1980, ''PTL Club'' host Jim Bakker became estranged from his wife, [[Tammy Faye Bakker]], and he asked Fletcher to "bring [him] a woman". Fletcher arranged for church secretary Jessica Hahn to meet Bakker. Hahn later claimed that Fletcher and Bakker subsequently raped her but both claimed to have had a consensual sexual encounter with her.<ref name="UPI"></ref> The following year, the Assemblies of God defrocked him after allegations of homosexuality were made against him.<ref name="newsOK"></ref> Other sources state he was defrocked twice for alcoholism.<ref name="UPI"/>
In early 1987, Fletcher came to nation attention when news of the sexual encounter was made public.<ref name="news OK1"/> Fletcher subsequently told ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' that he had had sex with Bakker three times, and he repeated the claim in front of a [[grand jury]]. Bakker denied these claims under oath.<ref></ref> Fletcher gave conflicting statements to the grand jury about whether sex was the only reason that he arranged Hahn to meet Bakker and was charged with [[perjury]].<ref></ref> He pled guilty and Judge [[Robert Daniel Potter]] sentenced him to three years' probation in May 1990.<ref name="sentenced"></ref>
During the scandal, Fletcher attempted suicide and his wife of 18 years divorced him.<ref name="washingtonpost"></ref> He was also arrested and fined for [[public intoxication]] in Oklahoma City and faced financial difficulty.<ref name="news OK1"/> Fletcher stated that he "lost all that's dear and precious to me because I was loyal to [Bakker]."<ref name="washingtonpost"/> At the time of his sentencing, he had been working as a roofer.<ref name="sentenced"/> He died in 1996, reportedly from [[AIDS]].<ref></ref>
== References ==
== External links ==
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:AIDS-related deaths in the United States]]
[[Category:American Assemblies of God pastors]]
[[Category:American members of the clergy with criminal convictions]]
[[Category:American television evangelists]]
[[Category:Protestant religious leaders with criminal convictions]]
[[Category:American perjurers]]
[[Category:LGBT Protestant clergy]]
[[Category:People from Durham, North Carolina]]
Fletcher was born in [[Durham, North Carolina]] in 1940. He dropped out of high school at the age of 21 and worked a number of jobs, including driving an ambulance, working as a party [[clown]], and he claimed to have run a topless bar. He left Durham in 1970, after being convicted for writing bad checks five times and facing lawsuits for unpaid debts.<ref></ref>
During the 1970s, Fletcher became an Assemblies of God pastor with an evangelical foundation located in [[Oklahoma City]] and started making regular appearances on the ''[[PTL Club]]'' television program towards the end of the decade.<ref name="news OK1"></ref> In 1980, ''PTL Club'' host Jim Bakker became estranged from his wife, [[Tammy Faye Bakker]], and he asked Fletcher to "bring [him] a woman". Fletcher arranged for church secretary Jessica Hahn to meet Bakker. Hahn later claimed that Fletcher and Bakker subsequently raped her but both claimed to have had a consensual sexual encounter with her.<ref name="UPI"></ref> The following year, the Assemblies of God defrocked him after allegations of homosexuality were made against him.<ref name="newsOK"></ref> Other sources state he was defrocked twice for alcoholism.<ref name="UPI"/>
In early 1987, Fletcher came to nation attention when news of the sexual encounter was made public.<ref name="news OK1"/> Fletcher subsequently told ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' that he had had sex with Bakker three times, and he repeated the claim in front of a [[grand jury]]. Bakker denied these claims under oath.<ref></ref> Fletcher gave conflicting statements to the grand jury about whether sex was the only reason that he arranged Hahn to meet Bakker and was charged with [[perjury]].<ref></ref> He pled guilty and Judge [[Robert Daniel Potter]] sentenced him to three years' probation in May 1990.<ref name="sentenced"></ref>
During the scandal, Fletcher attempted suicide and his wife of 18 years divorced him.<ref name="washingtonpost"></ref> He was also arrested and fined for [[public intoxication]] in Oklahoma City and faced financial difficulty.<ref name="news OK1"/> Fletcher stated that he "lost all that's dear and precious to me because I was loyal to [Bakker]."<ref name="washingtonpost"/> At the time of his sentencing, he had been working as a roofer.<ref name="sentenced"/> He died in 1996, reportedly from [[AIDS]].<ref></ref>
== References ==
== External links ==
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:AIDS-related deaths in the United States]]
[[Category:American Assemblies of God pastors]]
[[Category:American members of the clergy with criminal convictions]]
[[Category:American television evangelists]]
[[Category:Protestant religious leaders with criminal convictions]]
[[Category:American perjurers]]
[[Category:LGBT Protestant clergy]]
[[Category:People from Durham, North Carolina]]
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