The Facts:
- Born August 3rd, 1925
- Married Betty Jane Secrest in 1952
- Founded his own congregation in Tulsa, OK.
- Preached the evils of Sex Education and Communism
- Formed the American Christian College in 1971
- Was accused of having sexual relations with five students, four of which were male
- Died November 27, 2004
The Culprit:
The Story:
Throughout his religious career Hargis became famous for many things. Like, being one of the first to express that the JFK assassination was a Communist conspiracy which got him known in the media. Then he also shared his thoughts that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Communist-educated traitor. He also was involved in the 1953 scheme to release 100,000 balloons, with biblical messages written in them, over the Iron Curtain into Communist countries.
So aside from being very dedicated to stop the thought and actions of Communists, Billy James Hargis was also a big time Evangelical Minister. After attending a few different religious affiliated colleges, most of them unaccredited, Hargis finally received his degree from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Eventually his life found him forming his own congregation (Church of the Christian Crusade) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 1974 Hargis, who at the time was the president of the American Christian College (which he founded in 1971), had to step down from his responsibilities because of health problems. However, it was this same year, during the process of him stepping down from the College that the news broke.
Hargis reportedly had sex with 5 of the students from the college. Four of these five students were male. Another interesting fact about this scandal was later he presided over the union of two of his students. After the wedding the bride and groom told each other that they both were not virgins. Oddly enough, come to find out.. Hargis had been the one to have sex with them both.
After this news broke, it took only 3 years for the school to close. So after being founded in 1971 the American Christian College closed its gates in 1977.
This is not the only scandal that followed Hargis around. He had also formed the “All American Kids.” This was a children’s choir. Here three of the children, male, came forward and said that sexual misconduct had taken place.
Hargis continued with his Evangelical call and did Radio ministry for the remainder of his life. Which ended in November 2004.