Ravi Zacharias report details adultery, assault, and rape

The eagerly awaited report detailing Ravi Zacharias’s sexual immorality was released by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. The full report can be downloaded here but it’s key finding will be summarized here. The biggest takeaways, I summarize below:

• Ravi Zacharias engaged in rampant adultery and sexual immorality with no significant indication of repenting of this sin
• Ravi Zacharias International Ministries funded much of Ravi Zacharias’s sin
• Ravi Zacharias had “binders full of woman” in both describing his contacts and images

With over 200 massage therapist contacts in Mr. Zacharias’s phones, including many overseas, we did not think it worthwhile to attempt an exhaustive survey and instead sought to speak with those we thought most likely to have relevant information or who otherwise reached out to us.

One of the key issues with the report is that it is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient. With over 200 contacts across various continents, it should not be expected that a swift investigation surveyed all of these women.

Eight therapists reported that Mr. Zacharias would start the massage either completely nude or would remove the sheets during the massage. Six therapists reported that he always or almost always had an erection during the massage. Four therapists reported that he would either touch his genitals or ask them to touch his genitals. And five therapists reported that he touched or rubbed them inappropriately.

This is what was expected when the news broke that Ravi Zacharias had committed sexual immorality as it related to massage therapists in spas that he owned.

Two therapists obliged his request to masturbate him, telling one of them it was necessary because his pain was “ligamental.”

Note: A ligament is a tissue that connects bone to bone.

While five women reported that he touched and grabbed their legs, two said he eventually went beyond that with them, rubbing their breasts and genitals.

This further details the key findings above.

Only one of the witnesses we interviewed said that Mr. Zacharias engaged in sexual intercourse. This witness reported details of many encounters over a period of years that she described as rape.

This is not just one instance being described as rape. This is a continued course of conduct over a period of years.

Some therapists described a process that began with probing conversation and him asking about their families and backgrounds

The report goes into detail as to how Ravi Zacharias groomed these women.

Mr. Zacharias also used his ministry to financially support some of his long-term therapists. According to a description in the Notes application of one of Mr. Zacharias’s phones, Touch of Hope (“TOH”) was a “humanitarian effort on the part of RZIM meeting short term needs for long term gains.” We learned it was a purely discretionary fund and no clear guidelines governing how money would be granted.

This is where we learn in greater detail that RZIM funded sexual immorality. The report would go on to exonerate the board of directors as they were unaware. However, it notes that there was no financial accountability for Touch of Hope. Keep in mind that the board is the sponsor of this investigation.

Then the report goes into greater detail on Lori Anne Thompson, the initial accuser of Ravi Zacharias. Initially, I estimated that this was some sort of honeypot scheme. But while there was a honeypot element to this story, it was an adulterous affair on both parts.

While they were never physically intimate, Ms. Thompson alleged that they engaged in an emotional relationship through electronic communication and that culminated in him asking for photographs of her, including nudes, which she sent. In order to avoid “protracted and public litigation,” on April 27, 2017 the Thompsons sent Mr. Zacharias a letter demanding $5 million in exchange for a release of claims against him and the ministry.

Feminists, like Julie Roys, would have us believe that Lori Anne Thompson was a victim of Ravi Zacharias when it’s clear that she sent him nude photographs of herself, the dispute is over Ravi Zacharias solicited them. These individuals are both guilty of adultery, as both were married during this time. With high stakes sin like adultery, there is only so much you can keep from surfacing. And so, lawsuits started flying, including the Thompsons trying to extort money from Zacharias and his legal team’s massive response in turn. The report details the limited findings due to the non-disclosure agreement relating to the lawsuit’s settlement.

We have reviewed the evidence and communications that are publicly available and some documents provided to us by witnesses, but because we did not have access to the primary evidence that would have allowed us to reach meaningful conclusions, we cannot conclusively say whether Mr. Zacharias solicited nude or any other photographs of Ms. Thompson. However, we found significant evidence on Mr. Zacharias’s electronic devices that are probative of her allegations, discussed below. 

It’s very likely that Ravi Zacharias was the aggressor in this adulterous relationship, but Lori Anne Thompson is no victim.

Next, the report details the other romantic affairs of Ravi Zacharias. Due to the nature of the evidence, a physical component to these acts is only heavily implied. Consider this sample text message sent from one of his phones:

He told her: “I know more than ever that you have become the love of my life. I’m waiting to hold you close to my heart again. Please be safe my angel. I Love you and goodnight from here.” He told her to keep him “as the only one in your heart. I love you my dearest xxxxxx.” 

The report reiterates the fact that there is a near three year gap in which data from Ravi Zacharias’s devices is unobtainable.

Mr. Zacharias’s phones contained over 200 photographs of women much younger than him

The spank bank of Ravi Zacharias was a tamer than anticipated. The number of nude images was surprisingly sparse. The report goes into greater detail of the images that were on his various devices, noting a general pattern that the images sent to Zacharias were increasingly sexual per woman over the course of their relationship.

An inference that can be made is that Ravi Zacharias was more immoral overseas. Perhaps this is not true, but the most explicit sexting that occurred was with a Malaysian woman.

And one set contained nude images of a young Malaysian salon employee. The earliest picture of her is dated August 20, 2017, and shows her standing in the lobby of a salon with Mr. Zacharias and another man. Travel records confirm that Mr. Zacharias was in Malaysia at the time. Over time, more pictures of this woman appeared in Mr. Zacharias’s phone, most of which were relatively innocuous and show her fully clothed. However, the photographs grew increasingly more suggestive, culminating in two photographs showing her bare breasts dated October 27, 2018, and a video of her fully naked and touching herself dated January 8, 2019

The report goes onto address how Ravi Zacharias would respond to the findings, noting his past statements and debunking them. The report concludes stating:

Our investigation was limited to Mr. Zacharias’s sexual misconduct, and even as to that issue it was not exhaustive. We acknowledge that we have not spoken to all individuals who may have relevant information to provide. We strived to balance the need for completeness with the need for expediency, and we are confident that we uncovered sufficient evidence to conclude that Mr. Zacharias engaged in sexual misconduct. 

The investigation sought to prove or disprove sexual immorality on the part of Ravi Zacharias and succeeded in this goal. Now that we have the evidence, we see that much of these events were more recent than previously reported. The rampant sin in Ravi Zacharias’s life is indicative that he was not only unqualified for a leadership role in the church but also unrepentant in his own life.