Embattled International House of Prayer Kansas City founder Mike Bickle has confessed to engaging in “consensual sexual contact” with a woman connected to the 24/7 prayer ministry in addition to a previously confessed relationship with a primary Jane Doe who alleged she was his kept woman for several years, according to an independent investigation report released to the public Wednesday.
In her review of the allegations presented in a 7-page document, independent investigator and attorney Rosalee McNamara concluded that based on interviews she conducted with “numerous individuals as they were available,” Bickle likely engaged in sexual misconduct.
“Based on all the credible evidence, including his own acknowledgements of contact with the two Jane Does over twenty years ago, it is more likely than not that MB engaged in inappropriate behavior including sexual contact and clergy misconduct, in an abuse of power for a person in a position of trust and leadership,” McNamara wrote. “As previously stated, after these allegations emerged, in December 2023 IHOPKC announced it was ‘immediately, formally, and permanently’ separating from MB.”
While McNamara did not interview Bickle for the report, she noted that he responded to questions via his attorney, and in his response to her, he confessed to the “consensual sexual contact.”
“MB also admitted to inappropriate contact on three occasions with an individual connected with IHOP around 2002 to 2003. He described the contact as ‘consensual sexual contact that involved her touching me but not me touching her,'” McNamara noted. “He said they both agreed it was wrong and the conduct stopped. MB’s account and the account of the individual are very similar, including that it occurred in 2002 to 2003, and I find the individual’s account credible.”
Bickle confessed last December to engaging in “inappropriate behavior” but not “the more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting” after a group of former IHOPKC leaders known as the advocate group leveled abuse allegations against him spanning several decades.
“With a very heavy heart I want to express how deeply grieved I am that my past sins have led to so much pain, confusion, and division in the body of Christ in this hour. I sadly admit that 20+ years ago, I sinned by engaging in inappropriate behavior — my moral failures were real,” Bickle said in a statement published on his Facebook page while adding, “I am not admitting to the more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting.”
Bickle’s confession came after a woman, identified as Jane Doe by The Roys Report, alleged that for approximately three years, from 1996 to 1999, before he found IHOPKC, Bickle paid for her apartment, gave her a key to his office and engaged in every sexual act with her except copulation. She said the IHOPKC founder wooed her with Scripture when she was just 19 and he was 42, then made her a kept woman for several years as he established his now popular ministry.
IHOPKC leaders previously noted that they identified five of some eight women who the advocate group alleged are Bickle’s victims and found the evidence thin. Three of the alleged victims called the allegations “lies.'” One of the alleged victims refused to communicate with the attorney for the ministry. Only the primary Jane Doe, whom attorney Boz Tchividjian currently represents, was found credible.
Serving as an IHOPKC spokesperson, Eric Volz, managing director of the crisis management organization David House Agency, said in a video Wednesday that the ministry formally separated from Bickle on Dec. 22 after learning of the allegations from the second woman with whom Bickle admitted to having sexual contact.
“To be clear, this Jane Doe came directly to IHOPKC leadership and she was immediately referred to Ms. McNamara,” Volz said. “Regardless of today’s findings or any outside pressure, Gen. [Kurt] Fuller and the leadership here have been paying attention and are fully committed to making sure this never happens again. They are working tirelessly to implement organizational changes and improvements that have become evident during this crisis.”
While she was able to interview many of the Jane Does presented by the advocate group as victims, McNamara said the primary Jane Doe did not submit to an interview. The primary Jane Doe and the advocate group refused to participate in the investigation, doubting its independence and questioning the law firm’s past representation of organizations dealing with sexual abuse allegations.
In her report, McNamara said that there were no restrictions placed on her during the investigation and that “no entity or individual has attempted to limit or sway the investigation, its outcome, or this Report in any way.”
One of several women mischaracterized as Jane Doe victims of Bickle defended him as an “eccentric” man who has a childlike innocence.
“These allegations are just simply NOT TRUE!! Is Mike perfect? No, he is not Jesus, he is 100% human, but he is one of the purest if not the purest man I’ve ever gotten to know. He has his quirks, and like many men and women throughout history who have accomplished great things, he’s a little eccentric. But, he has never touched me sexually, I have never even felt him ever look at me lustfully,” one of the women was quoted as saying in the report.
“He has always been respectful and has never asked me for anything. I have found him actually to have a childlike innocence that many people might misinterpret for something else because we live in such a pornified society. I feel like I have been victimized NOT by Mike but by … [others who have used my name without my permission] or knowledge to attack what I know to be a good man, and in doing so are wounding SO many people all over the globe, starting with my children who have grown up with Mike in their lives as the benevolent father of the House.”
McNamara found the women she interviewed who say they were mischaracterized as Bickle’s Jane Doe victims to be “very credible, assertive, and cooperative in the interviews.”
“Although they indicated they did not like discussing personal circumstances — in some cases traumatic personal circumstances — unrelated to MB or IHOP that may have explained why they were among those identified as ‘Jane Does,’ they were very forthcoming to me about the circumstances they had to deal with in their personal lives.
“They clearly were not happy about hearsay and rumors suggesting that they were victims or in any way subject to abuse or inappropriate treatment (whether sexual, physical, emotional, spiritual, clergy/member/ churchgoer, or any other form of abuse or mistreatment by MB or others connected with IHOP).”
One Jane Doe stated there was a rumor circulating about Bickle driving his car into her garage. However, she said it was her driving Bickle’s car. Both her and other members of the ministry have frequently borrowed the prayer ministry founder’s car because he usually spends 12 or more hours a day in the prayer room.
“She reported that on at least one of those occasions she and a man to whom MB also loaned his car exchanged keys because the man was borrowing MB’s car regularly at that time. She and other witnesses reported that it was well known that MB frequently lent his car to people, both men and women, when they needed transportation, and that since he is in the prayer room about twelve hours a day and lives close, he often did not use it for twelve or more hours at a time and others used it during those times and sometimes overnight,” McNamara said. “There is credible written evidence that MB offered for another non-family male coming to town to borrow his car.”
In her disclosure last December, the primary Jane Doe alleged that one Sunday after service, Bickle told her in front of his wife, Diane, that he had dreamt about her and prophesied that she was his Esther, and he was like David from the Bible.
“He gives me the biggest word of my life,” she told The Roys Report. “It was, ‘You’re not just an Esther, you are going to lead thousands of Esthers.'”
After he delivered that powerful word to her, Jane Doe alleged Bickle called her a few weeks later from Asia with another word from God, but this time, she said he sounded drunk.
“He begins to tell me that the Lord has spoken to him and that Diane is going to die and that we’re going to get married,” she said. “As he’s talking to me, I’m thinking, ‘Is he drunk?’ And he did start talking about the alcohol that was in the fridge that he had been drinking.”
Bickle confessed to telling her that his wife was going to die in McNamara’s report and noted that he regrets doing so.
“MB and his wife each stated that she is the one who told him on several occasions that she believed she would die young. He said he shared this comment with (the primary) Jane Doe and regrets doing so. He stated that he did not tell anyone his wife was going to die and he would be with them or married to them,” McNamara wrote.
Some witnesses described Bickle as “quirky” and suggested that some of his actions could have been misconstrued.
“One witness who said MB was ‘quirky’ said he sometimes called female members of the close-knit MB team’ my girls;’ tousled men’s and women’s hair; and bumped shoulders with men, and that based on observation these things were done in a playful manner and not with ill intent or intent for it to lead to anything inappropriate. By some, hair tousling or a touching on the back was sometimes seen as odd or not appreciated,” McNamara wrote.
It was further noted that some witnesses interviewed for the report questioned the allegations of the primary Jane Doe.
“Observations by some are that the ‘primary Jane Doe’s’ account of occurrences involving MB has not been consistent and has ‘grown’ over time,” McNamara said. “These observations include those from people close to her in whom she confided and shared her dreams of prominent positions she would hold.”
In his Wednesday video, Volz said that IHOPKC has “opened a line of communication to the advocate group to entertain the idea of a commission of mutually agreed upon, well-respected outside leaders in the body of Christ.”
“This commission will serve as independent overseers to evaluate this matter and provide direction on the proper subsequent actions,” Volz said. “This commission will also receive any new information that comes to light. The talks are preliminary, but things look promising.”
With the completion of the McNamara investigation, Volz announced Thursday that his time providing crisis management services to IHOPKC has come to a close.
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