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Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

Betrayed Trust, Part Two: Woman Accused in Sexting Scandal Claims Ravi Zacharias Groomed & Exploited Her

By Julie Roys
Ravi Zacharias

 “It would be near impossible that this was the first time that R has fallen in this capacity for the first time at seventy years old; it will not be the last, no matter how much he defends otherwise.

 “I am coming forward with this information . . . To honour God by telling the truth and doing justice. Silence only helps the perpetrators, never the victims.”

So wrote Lori Anne Thompson about Ravi Zacharias in a letter dated December 27, 2016, which was obtained by The Roys Report last week.

Thompson is the Canadian woman accused by Zacharias in 2017 of sending “unwanted” nude pictures to the late apologist in an attempt to extort him. (Zacharias died on May 19, 2020.)

Yet according to the letter, the nude photos were not only wanted by Zacharias; they were invited. And they were the culmination of months of emails, phone calls, gifts, and other advances by a man who “sensed” Thompson’s “deficit and used it to his own end.

As reported in Part One of this series, both Thompson and her husband, Brad, signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Zacharias in 2017. And even though Zacharias reportedly broke that agreement, the Thompsons have not spoken publicly because of the NDA. The Thompsons told me earlier this year that they feared if they broke the NDA, Zacharias (and now his heirs) might sue them.

However, Lori Anne’s 2016 letter was written and sent by the Thompsons to third parties before the Thompsons signed the NDA with Zacharias. Brad Thompson also reportedly wrote and sent a letter at the same time, which was given to me in a single PDF document with Lori Anne’s letter.

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The third parties never published the letters and the letters have remained secret until now.  

Last week, the letters came to me through a trusted source and I have confirmed their authenticity with the Thompsons’ counselors, Jerry and Denise Basel, who also have a copy of the letters.

I sent the letters to RZIM for comment last week, but RZIM has not responded.

The Roys Report also has obtained numerous documents corroborating the narrative in the Thompsons’ letters. These include Lori Anne Thompson’s cell phone records, showing numerous calls to and from Zacharias, as well as shipping receipts of gifts from Zacharias to Lori Anne.

The documents were sent to me by Lori Anne’s sister, Tamara Battiste, a former missionary and critical care nurse in North Carolina. Battiste said Thompson gave her the documents four years ago in case something happened to Thompson.

Battiste said she is releasing the documents now “because I want to see my sister freed from the shame and the torment of being painted as the perpetrator in this scenario. It’s time.”

On May 21, 2020—two days after Zacharias’ death—Thompson posted a video to her blog, pleading with the Zacharias family to release her from her NDA. Thompson said she signed the NDA “under excruciating circumstances” and that she and her husband “have nothing that we do not wish disclosed.”

Thompson said to date, she has received no response from the Zacharias family to her request.

The Early Stages

The Thompsons wrote in their letters that they met Zacharias at a businessman’s luncheon in 2014 where Zacharias spoke.

Brad Thompson said he had sponsored a table at the luncheon, adding that Zacharias was “a hero” to him, and he “was very proud” to have a picture taken with Zacharias between him and his wife at the event.

Lori Anne wrote that at the meeting, Zacharias suggested the three stay in touch and directed his assistant to get the Thompson’s contact information and give them his.

This led to subsequent email correspondence, which Lori Anne wrote was intermittent at first. She added that the emails between her and Zacharias initially included Brad. Zacharias asked both of them about their stories, she wrote, but “Brad is not much for communication and did not ever follow through with (Zacharias’) interest.”

Lori Anne, on the other hand, wrote that she slowly began sharing her life with Zacharias. This included stories about her childhood and the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse she had suffered at the hands of her father.

As a result of the abuse, Thompson wrote she had “one place where heartache has reigned, where the past has constantly crept into the present to haunt, hunt and deeply hurt. I have longed to be loved like someone’s daughter. It is safe to say that my daughterhood and my body have always been literally and figuratively up for grabs.”

Over time, Thompson wrote that she and Zacharias, who’s more than 30 years her senior, developed a relationship “in which I felt honoured and delighted in. This was nourishment to a very deep place in me. . . . I trusted him, his experience was vast, his opinion important, his favour and friendship an unspeakable gift to me.” 

In June of 2015, Thompson wrote that Zacharias invited her and Brad to join him at a fundraising event in Toronto. The night before, she wrote that the couple ate dinner with Zacharias and his wife. “It seemed that our friendship was flourishing,” Thompson wrote. (Zacharias mentioned this dinner in his 2017 statement to Christianity Today, but said the dinner was after the event, not before.)

“Shift to Secrecy”

In her letter, Thompson said that she couldn’t imagine why someone like Zacharias would be taking such an interest in her. She wrote that she emailed Zacharias in October 2015, asking him what he was getting out of the relationship.

The letter states that in his response, which Zacharias asked Thompson to keep confidential, Zacharias divulged that his marriage was “more of a business partnership” and that “he was profoundly alone.” Thompson wrote that Zacharias added that her “emails were a connection and a kindness that he enjoyed immensely.”

At that point, Thompson wrote that she felt a “shift to secrecy” and didn’t share Zacharias’ email with her husband.

In January of 2016, Lori Anne wrote that Zacharias professed his love for her during a phone call. (In Zacharias’ lawsuit against the Thompsons, Zacharias claims that Lori Anne expressed her love for Zacharias “and then began making sexually suggestive statements.”)

“I couldn’t believe what I had heard . . .” Thompson writes. “I distinctly remember thinking—I wanted you to love me like a daughter.” Yet Thompson said she didn’t reject Zacharias. “To reject him would be to destroy the intimate fatherly friendship we had, the one I had longed for my whole life. I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t.”

Thompson said Zacharias requested that she begin using a BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app for iPhone to communicate with him for “his safety and protection.” Calls initiated from the BBM app are not traceable.

According to cell phone records Thompson’s sister, Tamara Battiste, sent to me, Zacharias called Thompson twice from his cell phone in February 2016. (A separate, independent background check on Zacharias confirmed the cell phone number belonged to him.)

It also shows an outgoing call from Thompson to Zacharias’ cell phone on February 10. That call was at 11:34 a.m. and lasted 7 minutes. At 11:41 a.m.—immediately after the previous call ended—Thompson received a call noted in the call records as “INCOMING ZZ,” which lasted 35 minutes.

Thompson’s sister, Tamara Battiste, claimed that all calls designated “INCOMING ZZ” were from Zacharias’ encrypted BlackBerry. She said often these calls would be requests to contact Zacharias through the BBM app on Thompson’s phone.

I called Thompson’s cell phone company, Telus, and asked what the code “INCOMING ZZ” means. A representative said “ZZ” is the code used for incoming calls that are not recognized by Caller ID.

Sexting & Phone Sex

Thompson wrote that Zacharias would ask what she’s wearing when they’d communicate, and Thompson would send him a picture of her with her clothes on. Zacharias called these photos “his vitamins for the day,” she wrote.

According to Thompson’s letter, Zacharias then asked for a photo of her with her jacket off and one in her “night clothes.”

“I stupidly shared that I did not wear night clothes,” Thompson wrote, “which is . . . what led to the first photos being sent without clothes on. Still, I covered up my breast with my arm and hid my pubic area with my legs.”

She said Zacharias also expressed that he wanted to meet in person for “an intimate sexual encounter.” “Since we were ‘in love,’ it would be one time at least, for ‘the heart,’” she recounted.

Thompson wrote that Zacharias called her in March 2016 when her family was in Florida and the two engaged in “sex over the phone.” Thompson wrote that she “was overwhelmed by his words,” adding that she is “terribly ashamed now” about the encounter and finds it the “hardest part to process.”

Thompson’s cell phone records show several, short incoming calls from Zacharias’ cell phone throughout March.

However, there are eight short “INCOMING ZZ” calls to Thompson’s cell phone in Florida from March 16—March 25. There’s also one call from Thompson to Zacharias’ cell phone.

Thompson wrote that she sent the first “full nudes” to Zacharias via BBM on or near the time of his 70th birthday.

“In this circumstance, as in all future times,” she wrote, “pictures flowed one way—from me to him. He acknowledged that it was something that I did for him, that it was not for me and he was very grateful.”

Thompson said Zacharias sent her gifts of two necklaces with crosses on them and two scarves from India around this time.

This is corroborated by a shipment invoice I received dated May 12, 2016, and apparently signed by Zacharias.

 

Thompson’s cell phone records show four incoming calls from Zacharias’ cell phone in April and May, each 17—20 minutes long.

Thompson said after each sexual encounter, “shame washed over me like a tidal wave.” Several times, Thompson said she and Zacharias decided to stop communicating through his BlackBerry Messenger.

Yet she writes: “Each time I deleted the app from my phone only to reload it at his request. This went on for an extended period of time. I was deeply enmeshed with him.”

“Groomed” & Exploited

Near the end of October, 2016, Thompson wrote that she told her sister, who’s a survivor of sexual abuse, about her relationship with Zacharias. Thompson wrote that her sister immediately told Thompson that Zacharias had “groomed” her.

“I rejected this idea wholesale,” Thompson said. “I didn’t even know what grooming was.”

Battiste remembers well when Thompson confided in her and said she was “flabbergasted” when she heard Thompson describe the relationship. She said the relationship seemed very predatory and “wrong on so many levels.”

She said it sounded like the relationship began as more of a parent-child relationship. But after Zacharias confessed his love to Thompson, Battiste said Thompson began to think, “This is what love is. . . . She really wasn’t able to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy,” Battiste said.

A week later, Thompson wrote that she traveled to Georgia for an “intensive” with Christian counselors, Jerry and Denise Basel. During their time together, Thompson wrote that the Basels had her watch a movie called Trust, a film about a teenage girl who is slowly lured into sexual abuse with someone she meets online.

“I watched with unabashed bewilderment; completely recoiled inside,” Thompson wrote. “It was plain to see that it was not her fault. He groomed her.”

While Thompson conceded that she is “old enough to not be innocent in such matters,” she added: “I didn’t even really know what grooming was . . . my father had always been so stupid and so blatant. R on the other hand was so intelligent, inviting, kind and loving. I suppose it doesn’t matter which way you were devoured, whether ripped off in pieces by a stupid illiterate savage, or eloquently eaten by an intellectual; slowly enough to enjoy it.”[pullquote]”I suppose it doesn’t matter which way you were devoured, whether ripped off in pieces by a stupid illiterate savage, or eloquently eaten by an intellectual; slowly enough to enjoy it.”[/pullquote]

Thompson concludes in her letter that Zacharias’ conduct “was at minimum unbecoming of a global Christian leader, at worst it is full on predatory behavior and clergy sexual abuse.”

The Aftermath

Thompson reportedly wrote her letter about two months after she told her husband about the illicit relationship and received emails from Zacharias threatening suicide. (Those were published in Part One of this series.)

Thompson references events in her letter and adds that since then, she and Brad “have been trying to process the betrayal of trust.”

In a separate letter, written on the same day as Lori Anne’s and addressed “To whom it may concern,” Brad talks about his own trauma. He wrote that Lori Ann’s revelations about her and Zacharias were shocking to him, especially given his history with Lori Anne.

He wrote that the couple’s first kiss was at the altar. And in 13 years of marriage, Lori Anne “has been the upmost of sexual purity.”

In the letter, Brad recounts that when Lori Anne told him about her relationship with Zacharias and the nude photos, “I went from wanting to leave my beloved to killing myself.”

He said when he learned that Zacharias first asked for nudes from his wife on his 70th birthday, he wanted to vomit.

“I don’t know what each of you got Ravi for his birthday,” he wrote, “but my wife’s body and soul was on his wish list and she was unable to say no.”[pullquote]“I don’t know what each of you got Ravi for his birthday but my wife’s body and soul was on his wish list and she was unable to say no.”[/pullquote]

Near the end of the letter, Brad states that the cost of meeting Zacharias “has been devastating. For two months our children have watched their parents be destroyed.  Barely able to parent, having to fly out three different times for counselling for days all the while having no idea what happened to their once stable home.  Both Lori Anne and I unsure sometimes if the other will return alive.”

Unlike the emails between Brad and Zacharias in November 2016, which I reported in Part One, this letter, written a month later, does not offer forgiveness to Zacharias. Instead, Brad wrote of feeling rage toward Zacharias.

There’s also an indication in Brad’s letter that Zacharias has moved from pledging to “be a better man” to denying willing participation in the illicit relationship with Lori Ann.

“You can make my wife out to be what ever you want,” Brad writes, “but I and all else who know her would testify to the the (sic) integrity of LA. There is no way she would ever try to lure a seventy year old man who is world famous into an affair. Such a statement would be a desperate attempt to distort the truth.”

Yet this was the argument Zacharias made in his lawsuit eight months later and then in December 2017, published to the world. Part Three examines the evidence on both sides of this claim, which includes documentation never before released.

Below is the email I received containing Lori Anne and Brad Thompson’s stories.

According to the Basels, there is a typo: the date of Lori Anne’s letter was not “2017,” but “2016.” Also, in one place, the letter says, “Sometime in the fall of 2016 R had asked me to send some photos . . .” This appears to be a typo as well and likely should be “2015.”

Lori Ann and Brad’s Story_Redacted
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158 Responses

  1. This is definitely a sordid story, as several people have said above and I agree, the RZIM board should have an independent, transparent investigation and release the details as painful as it might be. Would this destroy RZIM?, I don’t know but I would still purchase and use materials from RZIM as far as myself. It could even allow the ministry to move forward free of all the clouds of suspicion that hang over it now. I am in medicine and sometimes you have to do painful surgery to get the infection out before healing can occur.

  2. Better to follow the Billy Graham rule (expanded for our current emailing, texting, etc. situations) than make fun of it. I admire Mike Pence, for example, and I don’t think it means that women are predatory, just that the heart is deceitful.

    1. This is a tough one. As a male leader in a ministry position I understand avoiding things that could look improper. But I also don’t want to shut females out of access to leadership roles. The Graham rule definitely inhibits women from having access to experiences and roles that would allow them to flourish in leadership positions. It’s a tough thing to balance.

      1. i appreciate your desire not to shut out women from access to leadership roles.

        other industries can work together co-ed professionally without incident. what in the world is wrong with christian culture?

        well, actually i understand it very well (having exited a lifetime in christian culture, but not my beliefs in God/Jesus/Holy Spirit). in my view, christians tend to over-analyze everything, on the pathway to paranoia. and are too invested (emotionally, relationally, financially, career-wise) in what their peers think. Independent thought and critical thinking have eroded away.

        equality momentum can’t be stopped (and thank God for that). those who can’t function in equality will not be able to function in society, and will shrink further and further back into a very small bunker.

        1. …of course there’s more to it than that.

          ‘Biblical’ means everything. no matter who it hurts or destroys by degrees, no matter how foolish, or how devoid of common sense.

          in practice (not theory, of course), it is a religion that worships the bible. christian culture is a mine field. no matter where you take a step, there they are to chastice/threaten with “unbiblical!”, “liberal!”, etc.

          ridiculous.

          1. The Graham rule is not logical, because logic does not always prevail when it comes to human beings. Why did Joseph flee wife of Potiphar? Why not just be stoic? Because he recognised his weakness. And he had wisdom.
            And lastly, because the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy.

          1. Joy, Your Indian culture is dictating your response and not the Bible. Indian women tolerate all sorts of abuse from their Indian husbands.

        2. In most firms, I speak specifically of law firms where confidentially is required, all door have windows. You can’t hear the confidential information, but anyone can walk by anytime, etc.

      2. Most men who claim claim to adhere to the GRAHAM RULE are really males who want to appear chaste, even ‘noble’ but are filthy cisterns !!!

        However the stats from “Pew Research” says 80% of pastors admit to watching porn habitually

        To explain, these men cannot tolerate a woman of God without their mind perverting her. THIS IS THE REAL TRUTH AND GOD KNOWS!!!!….

        Men compartmentalize, meaning they keep Separate their “hidden perverted” life from their “ministry” life. So they can’t trust themselves to even have lunch with a female but to remain noble and not a porn or sex addict, they just RESTRICT WOMEN because in his head “women are to blame” (Misogyny)

        JUST A NOTE
        THESE MINISTERS DID NOT NOT NOT FALL…. THEY NEVER INTENDED ON TRULY GIVING PORN UP

        THEY ARE CHARLATANS EVEN IF THEY HEAL THE SICK, CAST OUT DEVILS AND PROPHESY according to Scripture

        WE HAVE GOT TO WAKE UP CHURCH
        ALLOWING A PREDATOR IN CHURCH IS NOT NOT NOT FORGIVENESS….ITS COVERUP!!!

        Corporations can’t keep Males off porn while at work to the point that the loss is written as financial!!!

        The Graham rule stops the man being responsible for his own speech, actions, perversions and lusts.

        It doesn’t ‘seem’ to blame women but
        in actuality IT DOES BLAME WOMEN

        MY PROOF?
        To “fix the problem” they RESTRICT WOMENS EXISTENCE IN CERTAIN PLACES rather than REQUIRE THE MALE TO SIMPLY OBEY THE BIBLE

        WHY DO MALES GET THIS PREFERRED TREATMENT ??

        Are not we all required to live morally before God…. the spirit, demonic spirit behind this is “contempt for women and how it’s all women’s fault”

        One pastor said a 4 year old girl seduced him….. Do you see my point?

        It penalizes the innocent (women) while protecting the weak (males) and loosing the responsibility to be moral

        It’s ridiculous and EXTREMELY misogynistic !!!!!

    2. Since men still are the ones in positions of power (although that’s changing), it just means that such environments will remain a homogeneous bubble. Absent will be the wisdom, skill, knowledge, and toughness of women. How detrimental to all.

    3. Why are you holding women accountable for a man’s – a religious leader man – actions? The Billy Graham rule supposedly protects both people. What it actually does is protect a man’s reputation and removes women from circles of influence.

      There are surveys that show that 1/3 of pastors – PASTORS – have had sexual contact with a member of the flock. There is a power imbalance there. The person responsible to uphold the boundary is THE PASTOR. If the pastor cannot contain his seduction/lust/need for power – is he honestly a man called to serve God?

      1. Sorry to break it to you. But being called does not mean that a person is immune to sin.

        Read the bible from Paul, to Peter, to David, to Moses, to Solomon etc.

        Almost every key figure of God has fallen to sin.

        To expect otherwise is folly, there are many traps set by the devil, especially for men of God.

        1. Amen, I couldn’t have said it better! Everyone tends to forget that we are all fallen, which is why we all need God’s grace and mercy. As Paul writes we all may struggle until we leave our sinful body! It’s sad, shameful, hurtful, disturbing, and disappointing, to all of us when our leaders fall. while we expect them to be without blemish! We can only pray and hope for our leaders and each other to stay upright and righteous, before God & people in our lifestyle. No nexuses just the human condition!

        2. I have thought about this, and while it is shocking to me I realised that the real root of problem is that R allowed his ministry to be more important than God. If he had spent time with God everyday this wouldn’t have happened. He allowed business of his career to take him away from his first call, which is to be one with our Saviour and Lord.

      2. Rules didn’t apply because RZ could honestly say he wasn’t alone with Lori Ann (YET). To further justify his sick behaviour RZ could have said God was in the room so RZ wasn’t alone ..alone. Making RŹ commit to rules would be insane. He never followed the same rules as everyone else. He certainly did mental gymnastics so rules didn’t apply to him. What an elitist attitude!

  3. Thank you Julie for this investigation. I appreciate your strength and courage. Other comments on this particular issue I am not able to make.

  4. God said that in the last days deceivers would abound. If someone is willing the deceive about having an earned PHD or falsifying achieving a best selling book via deception it is not a stretch to believe they will be a deceiver in other matters. How can anyone trust them when they purport to preach the Word.

    1. it is true. tell one lie, and your word is forever suspect. you simply can’t be trusted again. Not really. it is simply the way it is.

  5. There is an important account credibly corroborating allegations against Ravi here:

    https://randalrauser.com/2020/09/the-ravi-zacharias-sex-scandal-a-new-personal-statement/

    “On the spa case, I find the witnesses very, very credible. I trust them based on phone calls, emails, text messages and supporting documents. Each of these witnesses had nothing to gain by talking, writing emails, etc.

    On the Thompson matter, I trust Brad and Lori Anne. The idea that they were suffering financially and plotted together to get money out of RZ is ludicrous. RZ lied in his lawsuit against them.

    I find Shirley Steward’s testimony about Ravi telling Ramesh (his brother and Shirley’s boyfriend at the time) to get her (Shirley) to have an abortion to be very credible. I have interviewed her at length.

    On the credentials issue, Steve B. has been proven right by the fact that RZIM employees and the organization itself faced up to Ravi’s carelessness and duplicity. I do think Steve overstates the credentials issues at points but he was basically properly concerned. RZIM should have listened to him sooner.”

    1. On page 5 of this lawsuit document from Aug. 2017, it states: “14. RZIM is not a church and does not provide formal counseling services, therapy, or any other type of professional advice to non-employees.” This contradicts RZIM’s current tax registration as a church, which I think was also the case even before 2017, allowing it to avoid revealing the salaries of Ravi and his family by filing a form 990, as regular non-profit organizations would be required to do. So which is it RZIM, church or not a church? Guess it depends less on the truth and more on how you want to game the system and blind people to your advantage.

      1. You are wrong. Twenty seconds of searching reveals Rav’s income on the FYE 2014 IRS Form 990. Don’t have time to do more. It’s not a church. A religious organization, yes. There’s a legal difference.

        1. RZIM has not published the IRS form 990 since 2015.

          They reclassified themselves as a church in 2019.

          “Ruth Malhotra, a spokeswoman for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, said in an email that the Christian apologetics and evangelism ministry, which had been classified as a “mission society” in 2014, was reclassified as a church in April. The ministry publishes a public financial audit but does not release 990s.”

          [source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/01/17/major-evangelical-nonprofits-are-trying-new-strategy-with-irs-that-allows-them-hide-their-salaries/%5D

          1. Thanks for this additional info Lea. Julie had also reported RZIM hasn’t released a 990 form since 2015, but I don’t understand how this could be if they were only reclassified as a “church” in 2019.

          2. You’re welcome, Micaiah. It seems like they may have just been flouting reporting guidelines? There is very little appetite at the IRS to go after non-profits for reporting violations.

    2. And on page 24, #97, of the legal document it states… ” and/or Plaintiff’s personal and professional reputation as an astute and articulate defender of Christianity, and as a person of great spiritual and intellectual integrity.” They forgot to add “great humility” here. “Intellectual integrity,” with his years of bragging about his bogus academic credentials, is a joke, and the claim of “spiritual integrity,” with all the info now being revealed from various sources about RZ’s massage parlors and what went on there, recommending an abortion to his brother’s girlfriend, and sexting, a shameful farce.

  6. When will Part 3 be released? I want to share this but I know that many questions people have about the investigation will be answered in Part 3 so I am waiting…

  7. A 40 yr old woman with 3 kids cannot be ‘groomed’. The gift was worth 45 dollars and was a child’s necklace and scarf. He could have bought her something way more expensive if he had wanted to. He says she fell in love with him and sent photos. It’s her word against his. But considering the facts- -they made RZIM pay millions and still do not have the integrity to keep quiet about it, -her age- she is 40,
    -her husband and her previous history of suing pastors
    -and the fact that there is no power differential here- he was not her professor, pastor, therapist, counsellor- they were family friends and she started talking and telling him about her childhood.
    -the sudden convenient reappearance of this story just before the elections.

    Makes me believe in Ravi’s side of the story. Sorry, LA you are a liar.

      1. *Sigh* Some people seem unable to read anything outside of a Republican/Democrat frame.

        As if all of Christianity is about a single country and a few narrow years of its internal politics.

        I’m so tired of American Christians conforming to such an unscriptural worldview.

    1. If you want to look at relevant history, Rekha, here is some of Ravi’s:

      ““According to Hunt, Ravi Zacharias would “fly women in from India” to give him treatment at Jivan. This should have raised a red flag to Hunt and any other onlookers but it apparently it did not. Now, after Ravi’s untimely death and the controversy of his previous sex scandal, Baughman has uncovered new claims of sexual impropriety against Zacharias. According to Ravi’s erstwhile business partner, Anurag Sharma (co-founder of Jivan), the business had to be closed because of the way Ravi treated the women who worked there. Baughman has communicated with masseuses who were formerly in the employ of Zacharias. These women are not willing to come forward publicly and be named, perhaps out of fear or embarrassment, but, according to Baughman, these women claim that Ravi Zacharias sexually molested the help at his spa.”

    2. Rekha wrote “they made RZIM pay millions”.
      They did demand $5 million in the original letter letter from their lawyer to Ravi, but I have seen no evidence that Ravi or RZIM ever paid them anything at all. They never sued him— he sued them. When he dropped his suit, many reported that there was some sort of financial agreement, but I’ve never seen a document from either party confirming this. If it’s true, what plaintiff pays the defendants as a condition to drop his suit? It seems a little odd…

      1. Actually, HBC and Macdonald were plaintiffs suing Julie Roys and the Elephant’s Debt defendants, and paid those defendants as part of dropping the suit. The guilty party filing suit first is a common aggressive litigation tactic, though it can easily backfire. The most famous case is Oscar Wilde suing Lord Queensberry for defamation for calling him a sodomite, a suit he dropped after discovering that Queensberry had a number of young men ready to testify to Wilde’s criminal behavior. It ended up with Queensberry paying nothing and Wilde in prison.

        1. I feel for RZIM too. Angry they are not coming forward with apologies and sincere regrets and plans to right the wrongs they are not admitting. Hiding in the sand, containing damages, and moving their assets around to save as many “goodies” they aquired over their extremely profitable decades of business.

    3. I would have come to the same conclusion after seeing the pattern of suing and such from the Thompsons – had I not seen copies of the phone records and what appears to be valid emails and phone records from Ravi himself. There just seems to be too much evidence against Ravi, from reliable massage therapists as well. Hmmm. This makes my heart sick.

      1. They both are complicit. Thank God we live in under the Covenant of Grace where both receive mercy and not the First where both Lori and Ravi would be stoned.

        Every email back and forth, every feeling of pleasure that pushed that boundary one inch more, was sin on both of their parts. There’s no evidence Ravi was out to get a married women out of her clothes nor that Lori wanted to be sexually admired by him. But that’s where it ended up.

        RZIM needs to own up to this. Ravi was taken down by the same weapon that prevailed against David himself. Let us all pray we never face it. Lori also needs to repent of the victimhood lie she has accepted which whispers to her “Is it really your fault that you engaged in this relationship, or was it Ravi’s?” Lets dispense with this awful, evil wickedness of victimhood feminism or we are going to find ourselves in far worse situations where female adultery is redefined, encouraged, and incubated within the Church.

    4. Scripture does not agree with modern “Duluth Model” theory that women can do no wrong and that any improper relationship must, by definition, be the man’s fault.

      Women lust after men of stature and power. Lori was pretty clear through this whole thing that there was a lurking sexual sin in her life that was not satisfied with her husband but lusted after someone with enough power to fill the hole her father left in the life of a little girl. While tragic, that’s sin. Its sin that our culture and the church has now coddled and incubated and there is a whirlwind already being reaped from it.

      Women absolutely seduce men emotionally as well as sexually. Proverbs and many other parts of scripture detail the predatory women. The Curse on Eve means something….and ask yourself, when have you ever heard a sermon preached on that?

      I believe both were in the wrong here but thoroughly reject the idea that Ravi “groomed” an innocent little girl. This was a grown adult woman who knew full well there was a part of her life looking for fulfillment in men’s approval of her and her body and instead of taking it to Jesus she took it to email.

      A cautionary tale for all and a devastating blow to the increeping of feminism into the Church. We have pegged all adulterers as men and all victims as female. Scripture is very clear that unless a woman is forced and protests therewith she is complicit. Scripture is very clear about the nature of the adulteress as well as the adulterer.

      To believe otherwise is to believe that sin nature is distributed more towards men than women which is what 90% of the church functionally believes these days, as taught to it by the Devil.

      1. There was a predator and many victims in these cases. Grooming happened consistently. The victims have corroborated many fine details. These recollections of events are not about 2 consenting adults having a mutually agreed upon affair. In many states, this predatory action by a person representing themselves as a professional minister of God is considered a crime.

      2. “The Curse on Eve means something….and ask yourself, when have you ever heard a sermon preached on that?” Gaston.. theres something here.. the root of it all. What is this inclination of sin btw men and women? Can you please elaborate, your thoughts on the Curse of Eve?

    5. If LA is a liar, it must have come through osmosis. RZ has consistently lied about many different areas of his life for decades.

    6. Rekha, You are a typical Indian woman that wiĺl stand by their man no matter what. You ladies are so brainwashed you would throw yourself on your husband’s cremation fire. Why you still maintain this attitude in this day and age is mind boggling.

  8. It’s easy to defame someone and later if proved innocent the lie would have already spread beyond whre truth can reach

    So an unbiased analysis would be necessary in this case.

    Focus of a Christian must me Christ and He alone is worth all glory and not any human.

    But does not mean we should just believe an accusation against a person who represents Christianity and influenced lives of many could be concluded based on allegations.

    Few things I couldn’t find in two parts of your story

    1.documents validate that the email belongs to Ravi.

    2.proof that the screenshot haven’t been manipulated

    3. The authenticity of the so called trustworthy sources
    4. If in case the sources are trustworthy too.. What proves that the people who allege did not con them to support their version of stroy which in turn would have been a great manipulation.

    1. Correction:
      By mentioning represented Christianity doesn’t MEAN to bro G someone as a central figure. I would say a contributor to defending Christian faith on basis of apologetics

    2. “It’s easy to defame someone and later if proved innocent the lie would have already spread beyond whre truth can reach”

      Yes, that’s exactly what Ravi did to Lori Anne in 2017.

    3. If you’re talking about the email where he threatens suicide, nobody (other than you) is disputing it’s validity. Ravi didn’t, his ministry didn’t, his family didn’t.

  9. @Julie,
    Long ago, my wife and I were models for Ravi Zacharias’ children’s books: The Merchant and the Thief, The Broken Promise.
    About 8 years later, we heard he was speaking at First Family Church in Overland Park, KS and went to hear him.
    Afterwards, we went to say hello to the great man.
    He greeted us and spoke to us warmly when we explained who we were.
    In fact, my wife is also from his state of Kerala in India.
    He maintained all decency and was a gentleman. There was never any hint of impropriety.
    My wife is an attractive woman. But he never showed any inclination to get our contact information and approach us.

    Although, I would have loved to discuss apologetics with him and share our testimonies, we never met him again.

    Why am I coming forward to say this?
    I believe in your rush to uncover any information to paint Ravi as an adulterer, predator etc,
    you are helping twist the truth into a lie which will destroy his life work and RZIM as a ministry.
    You are abandoning your journalistic integrity by turning inappropriate banter between him and the accuser, into full fledged adultery, and abuse.
    Even Jesus said that a man who lusts after a woman has committed adultery with her in *his heart*.
    Notice, he did not say it was equal to actual physical adultery. If it were actually adultery, we should all be guilty.

    1. Look at what you’re saying. You’re saying Ravi Zacharias didn’t seduce your wife, so he must be good guy. And you’re accusing Julie Roys of lack of integrity– why? What did she write that was false? Read what she wrote. Then be ashamed of your baseless charge against her.

    2. Anil, if someone robbed your neighbors house would you chime to say “Well, he didn’t rob mine”?

      Would such a response demonstrate Christian empathy?

  10. My goodness, this is out of control! Point to a pastor or an apologetic teacher who does not have skeletons in their closet! I know, according to scripture, they should be above reproach, absolutely. Show me one today.
    We might be able to name one possibly, but we haven’t dug into their treasure chest of secrets. Some of the commentary here is just vicious. Character, money, extortion, whatever it is named it’s gross.

    I’m sorry for whatever happened to LA… And if somehow getting the word out or money makes you feel better so be it. I certainly wouldn’t want my past discretions or thoughts, words or deeds to ever be put on display for others to ridicule and disparage and then debate especially after my death. The division among God‘s people must break His heart! I am only in my mid-50s but I have never seen such divisiveness among people and God’s people to boot. Jesus prayed in John 17, that we should be one as He was one with the Father.

    This just has to stop! Julie, I do so appreciate your investigative reporting. I pray for Margie and for their children and grandchildren. This is a legacy that will follow them for the rest of their lives.

    It’s like the Mark of the Scarlet Letter… Should this be so?

    I don’t need a lecture on what should or should’ve been. Judgment resides in the house of the Lord.

    1. Sadnessincali, I can point to lots of pastor and Christian leaders who didn’t engage in phone sex or ask women to send them naked pictures. Almost 100% of them, in fact. None is above reproach, but hardly any of them seduce women and then blame them for being seduced. And when a Christian does sin, and someone points it out privately, the Christian response is repentance, in which case the sin doesn’t have to be made public. Zacharias didn’t repent; he doubled down. That’s why it had to come out. We shouldn’t reward lack of repentance with cover-up. Indeed, it would have been better for his soul if RZIM had forced him to confront his sin before he died in it.

      1. Eramuse…The point was missed! That is all disgusting I am not denying or downplaying such sin. You nor I may not be able to produce evidence that particular Pastors or Christian leaders that we know or like or listen to have engaged in phone sex or requests of naked pictures but they may have other skeletons in their closets that are never brought to light because those discretions haven’t been made public.

        So these alleged sins of Ravi’s carry more weight than the undisclosed sins of others? The state of the
        church right now Is abysmal. What are we doing as a church tearing down others? No wonder Jesus said “”Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”
        ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

        The gate seems to be narrowing… Let’s fight the good fight brothers and sisters in Christ.

        1. “these alleged sins of Ravi’s carry more weight than the undisclosed sins of others”

          Of course they do.

          If your neighbor actually steals your car, that carries more weight than any imagining that perhaps all of your other neighbors might be in some way be thieves themselves. Would you attempt to prosecute them all equally?

          Attempting to compare factually known indiscretions with those we merely imagine others might have committed is ludicrous, both practically and spiritually.

          Yours is just a version of the sin-leveling “everybody does it” excuse.

          No, everybody doesn’t.

    2. Justice resides in the house of the Lord. Thank God for this truth. RZ met that justice. RZ did this to his family, to the victims and others that were ignorant in his organization (not all were), and to all RZ followers and donators. RZ did this. Thank God for this truth. In His light we can heal.

  11. Of course Ravi is guilty, but I also smell a rat.

    In her letter she says, “I came to R to be nourished and fed, not to be eaten”. So by willfully sexting and sending nude pics of yourself to a married man, was this the nourishment part or the feeding part?

    In her husband’s letter he says, “Your leader, your husband, your father, picked off my wife, stripped her of her clothes, her dignity, and her daughterhood and molested her online for six months for his own titillation and gratification”. No, it was actually your wife who stripped off her clothes and gave up her dignity by willingly cheating on YOU with another married man.

    This woman was 40+ years old! This isn’t a prepubescent girl who is preyed upon by a pervert. Two adults, both lonely and unfulfilled in their current marriages, made bad choices. End of story. Stop making it out to be something it’s not.

    1. Your comment ignores critical details.

      One is that Ravi was a Christian teacher with a public ministry, while Lori was not. According to Scripture, Ravi has the greater responsibility, even if both parties were in error.

      James 3:1 “Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive greater judgment.”

      The second is that Lori Anne has publicly repented. Ravi did not, even when repeatedly given the opportunity to do so. So he himself chose the condemnation of I Timothy 5:20.

      “But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.”

      In the very next verse we Christians are charged to not let our prior loyalties–or someone’s celebrity status–keep us from applying that rebuke.

      “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality” I Timothy 5:21

  12. This lady is not a child. She is trying to portray herself as naive and being taken advantage of. I don’t buy it! She was 30 years his junior which made her 40 years old. She is a grown adult and she entered into an affair on her own volition. Please spare us all the victim mentality. Own your mistakes. They both sinned.

    1. “They both sinned”

      But only one–Lori Anne–has acknowledged that and repented. Ravi went to his grave lying about, and to public knowledge unrepentant of, this affair as well as the other incidents of sexual abuse he is alleged to have perpetrated.

  13. This saddens me! I looked up immensely to Ravi. I guess we truly all are messed up and desperately in need of grace … and I need to stop expecting Christian men to be a good example even though I really want to.
    Sad

  14. I know I’m gonna get flack for this but here goes. From what i read this women was sexually abused in the past. And for that she should of had counseling for. Im sure Ravi was kind and loving to her as a Father figure . She trusted him. And over time i think Ravi began to have feelings for her . Satan is not stupid and knows us by watching our actions . So he starts to twist things in both her and Ravi’s mind to have them act inappropriately .
    Ravi being a Pastor and teacher , according to the bible will be held more accountable for his actions. And he should have Fled from temptation. This is where God comes in as Judge . Ravi is dead and stands before God .
    The women however should have also known better than to send any photos nude or not. No one twisted her arm .
    She also is at fault . Both sinned . I don’t know about the extortion portion, that may come out more later. Yes maybe they don’t need Money but a lot of people are Greedy . I feel bad for Ravi’s family. I still like Ravi’s teaching and believe He did Love the Lord and taught the truth .
    We are ALL sinners. thats why we need a Savior . We need to keep a close account of our sins daily.

    Janet

  15. WHY ALL THESE NOW? Waited for his death so that he couldn’t respond?
    Why were these & the spa scandals brought up when he was very much alive all these years!?

    1. A lot of these people are in denial, because this man is their idol. The problem is that they never should’ve idolized him to begin with. The irony, is that those who idolize him were more likely to be groomed by him to begin with. They are condemning LA for falling for his seduction, but they are halfway seduced themselves already as fans of a celebrity “pastor.”

  16. There were more at fault than just one person. And the greater the authority/ power, the greater the responsibility. We will likely never know all the facts, but certainly the Lord has been greatly dishonoured and a ministry and individuals negatively affected.
    The Lord will deal w/ this at some point, but the biggest question here for us is how believers react to this sin mess.
    Do we get disheartened, or do we trust more in the Saviour of sinners ?
    Do we realize more fully now the wickedness of the natural mind and heart ?
    Are we now more careful to avoid this happening to us ?
    It looks like RZIM acknowledges that they trusted one man too much and need stronger safeguards in place.
    Chuck Swindoll always said he never counsels women, because of the scripture that says “ let the older women teach the younger women “.
    In 1st Samuel we see how the one priest’s sons fell into immorality and the other priests son fell into corruption ( bribes).
    Scripture warns against the lust of the flesh and eyes and pride of life.

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