Allegations came from four female massage therapists who said that Zacharias “would either touch his genitals or ask them to touch his genitals.”
The law firm said it employed a private investigation firm with former federal law enforcement officers. According to the report, more than 50 people were interviewed, including more than a dozen massage therapists.
A digital forensic company investigated four cell phones and a laptop used by Zacharias. Evidence of “text and email relationships with women who were not his wife” was found, along with more than 200 photos of women, the report said.
According to the report, several women accused Zacharias of using the ministry’s money to provide them with financial support, elicit personal information about their lives, and use religious language during meetings.
Zechariah, who defended Christianity through books and lectures, died last spring at his home in Atlanta at the age of 74 after battling sarcoma. He was a leading figure in Christian apologetics, an intellectual form of Christian theology that defends faith against doubters by appealing to history and logic.
The Miller & Martin report detailed new allegations of wrongdoing against Zacharias. According to the report, the Christian leader’s claims that he “never displayed any improper conduct” during his marriage when faced with similar allegations in the past were “misleading or false.”
The board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries hired the law firm to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct last fall.
“Tragically, witnesses described encounters such as sexting, unwelcome touching, mental abuse and rape. We are devastated by what the investigation has shown and are filled with grief for the women who have been hurt by this terrible abuse.”
Prosecutor says she owes ‘every victim and whistleblower’
The Miller & Martin report details the case of Lori Anne Thompson, a Canadian woman who accused Zacharias of engaging in “sexually explicit online conversations” and exploiting “her vulnerability to satisfy. [his] own sexual desires. ”
In April 2017, Thompson and her husband Zacharias wrote to “demand $ 5 million in exchange for the release of claims against him and the ministry.” Three months later, Zacharias sued the couple in federal court for extortion. The couple and Zacharias confidentially resolved the dispute in the fall of 2017, the report said.
Zacharias convinced the RZIM board that he was the victim of extortion and that the case was not being investigated, the report said. Witnesses within RZIM told investigators they were “marginalized because they asked questions” about his explanation.
This week’s RZIM statement said the investigative findings “led us to think very differently” about Thompson’s 2017 allegations.
“We think Lori Anne Thompson has told the truth about the nature of her relationship with Ravi Zacharias,” the board said. “It is with deep sadness that we recognize that because we did not believe the Thompsons and continue a false story both privately and publicly, they were vilified for years and their suffering greatly prolonged and intensified. This leaves us heartbroken and ashamed.”
In an email statement to CNN, Thompson said she and her husband “owe a great debt of gratitude to every victim and whistleblower who spoke not only for themselves, but also for us.”
She called the law firm’s report and board statement “the first steps in what we expect will be a long and arduous journey for RZIM to institutional transparency and accountability.”
The board of directors, citing “a deep need for corporate repentance,” said it hired attorney and advocate Rachael Denhollander to “train and advise” the organization and serve as a liaison with survivors.
The board said it also hired Guidepost Solutions, a consulting firm, to evaluate RZIM’s “structures, culture, policies, processes, finances and practices”.
“We want to help the victims of Ravi’s abuse and we want to thoroughly understand what has happened in our organization so that we can do everything we can to ensure that nothing like this happens again,” the board statement said.