Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) notified staff, donors, and supporters on Wednesday that there is convincing and credible evidence that Ravi Zacharias “engaged in sexual misconduct over the course of many years.”
A preliminary report from the law firm hired by RZIM confirms reports from CT, World, and blogger Steve Baughman that international apologist Ravi Zacharias, who died earlier this year, sexually abused numerous women.
The final report is forthcoming, and RZIM has committed to releasing it to the public. The investigators at the law firm Miller & Martin have told the board, however, that many victims have “spoken candidly and with great detail,” confirming the allegations of massage therapists who worked in two Atlanta spas that Zacharias partially owned. The team has uncovered other misconduct as well. The investigation is ongoing and the investigators are continuing to pursue leads.
“We know this news will send all of us, and thousands of others, into grief, confusion, disillusionment, and anger,” wrote Sarah Davis, RZIM’s CEO and Zacharias’s daughter. “We know that you will have many questions, as we all do as well.”
Davis also wrote that “We grieve profoundly with those who have suffered from Ravi’s sexual misconduct” and asked staff and supporters to pray for them.
RZIM initially denied the allegations, releasing a statement that said “the family and ministry teammates of Ravi Zacharias” did not believe them to be true, because they “do not in any way comport with the man we knew for decades.” A number of RZIM teammates objected to the statement and said they did believe the women making the allegations.
The announcement follows weeks of increasing pressure from staff inside RZIM voicing criticism of leadership for the way it has protected its founder’s legacy.
The full report of the investigation into Zacharias’s misconduct is expected in January.
