GRAYLIAN YOUNG, CNN SOUTHEAST BUREAU CHIEF: The story broke in 1987 that Jim Bakker had a tryst with a church secretary by the name of Jessica Hahn in a Florida hotel room back in 1980. It was a rumor that was spreading among the top television preachers in the country. And the "Charlotte Observer" was also aware of the rumors, and they were investigating it. And the "Observer" was the first news operation to actually break the story.</s>JIM BAKKER: I went into is the courtroom innocent of the charges against me and I come out today still innocent of the charges against me.</s>YOUNG: Bakker was charged in 1988 with fraud, with defrauding his followers. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to 45 years in prison. That was later reduced to 18 years. He actually served five years, and then he was finally released. He sat on the sidelines for a few years now, and now he says he's ready to get back on TV. So Jim Bakker may be beaming back into our living rooms in the very near future.</s>BAKKER: I don't want anybody to believe in me.</s>LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: You don't want?</s>BAKKER: No, I don't. I don't want them to believe in me. I want them to believe in God. That was one of the big mistakes I made before. I wanted people to believe in my dream.
CNN 20: Jim Bakker is Convicted, October 5, 1989