Rape, lies and scandal: The truth about Ravi Zacharias’s sexcapades revealed

Feb 12

Special Report By M. Hall // EEW Magazine Online

Supporters who followed and believed in the spiritual integrity of the late Ravi Zacharias, a revered Christian apologist, are devastated to learn the truth about him.

A stunning four-month long investigation revealed that for more than a decade, in the United States and abroad, Zacharias abused his worldwide influence to get sex from massage therapists and used bribery and manipulation to keep them quiet.

According to a 12-page report released by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), Zacharias disguised his illicit sexcapades as massage sessions for a chronic back injury and ministry-related overseas travel, while he gained his victims’ trust with false piety and money from the ministry.

One woman, a Christian, told investigators that Zacharias raped her, explaining that “after he arranged for the ministry to provide her with financial support, he required sex from her.”

The report, which gives chilling details of his predatory behavior, shows that he “made her pray with him to thank God for the ‘opportunity’ they both received” and “called her his ‘reward’ for living a life of service to God”—the way he also characterized his relationships with other women.

To shut the woman up about the rape, Zacharias told her that if she dared to speak out, she would ruin his reputation, thereby making her responsible for millions of lost souls.

The married leader’s scandalous affairs and sexual deviances show that Zacharias abused multiple women in the US at day spas he owned in Atlanta and took advantage of other victims in Thailand, India, and Malaysia.

“Because his need for massage treatments was well known and accepted, he was able to hide his misconduct in plain sight,” the report says.

Zacharias’s old phones held contacts for more than 200 massage therapists, as well as hundreds of images of young women, some being displayed nude. Investigators say his solicitation of photographs stopped just a few months shy of his May 2020 death.

The investigators, Miller & Martin attorneys Lynsey Barron and William Eiselstein, were hired by RZIM to look into the allegations of abuse. Over the course of the investigation, Barron and Eiselstein interviewed 50 witnesses and gathered evidence from phones Zacharias used from 2014 to 2018.

After a thorough, though not exhaustive, investigation, the lawyers said they felt “confident” that they had “uncovered sufficient evidence to conclude that Mr. Zacharias engaged in sexual misconduct.”

The board of RZIM released its own statement saying, “Ravi engaged in a series of extensive measures to conceal his behavior from his family, colleagues, and friends.”

Despite Zacharias’s cover-up efforts, ministry leaders did admit some level of responsibility, adding, “We were trusted by our staff, our donors, and the public to mentor, oversee, and ensure the accountability of Ravi Zacharias, and in this we have failed.”

Over the past eight months as RZIM has been ravaged by scandal, multiple speakers and RZIM staff members departed, citing concerns about the ministry’s initial dismissiveness of allegations that later proved true.

One such allegation that has now been confirmed was made four years ago by Lori Anne Thompson, a Canadian woman who said Zacharias manipulated her into sending him sexually explicit text messages and photos. Zacharias denied the allegations and sued Thompson in 2017 for extortion. Hers was the first public sexual abuse accusation against Zacharias and eventually gave other victims courage to tell their stories.

After the truth was discovered and laid bare, the board said of the case Thursday, “We believe Lori Anne Thompson has told the truth about the nature of her relationship with Ravi Zacharias.” Investigators also found other credible witnesses who “recounted similar conduct,” and uncovered a six-year history of sexual text exchanges involving other women.

Unfortunately, Thompson was not allowed to participate in the most recent investigation because she is still bound by a non-disclosure agreement that Zacharias’s estate refuses to lift.

Though Zacharias went to great lengths while he was alive to hide the truth, the enduring promise of Luke 8:17 is revealed through his situation, which says, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”