This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53897647
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Jerry Falwell Jr resigns Liberty University post amid sex scandal | Jerry Falwell Jr resigns Liberty University post amid sex scandal |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The influential head of a major US evangelical college has resigned after allegations about his private life. | |
| Jerry Falwell Jr took a leave of absence earlier this month after posting a photo of himself with trousers unzipped on Instagram. | Jerry Falwell Jr took a leave of absence earlier this month after posting a photo of himself with trousers unzipped on Instagram. |
| Further scandals have since emerged, including someone who claimed to have had a sexual relationship involving Mr Falwell Jr and his wife. | Further scandals have since emerged, including someone who claimed to have had a sexual relationship involving Mr Falwell Jr and his wife. |
| Mr Falwell Jr has now resigned as president of Liberty University. | Mr Falwell Jr has now resigned as president of Liberty University. |
| No official reason has yet been given for his departure. | |
| A prominent supporter of US President Donald Trump, he took over at the college after the death of his father, Jerry Falwell. | A prominent supporter of US President Donald Trump, he took over at the college after the death of his father, Jerry Falwell. |
| Mr Falwell Sr founded the university in the 1970s as well as the conservative Moral Majority movement. | Mr Falwell Sr founded the university in the 1970s as well as the conservative Moral Majority movement. |
| What are the allegations? | |
| Mr Falwell Jr was already under scrutiny for a photograph he posted online earlier this month. He appeared in the image with his trousers unzipped and his arm around a woman. | |
| The image provoked outrage and charges of hypocrisy from the political right and left, and calls for Mr Falwell to resign. | |
| Liberty University asked Mr Falwell to take an "indefinite leave of absence" soon after. | |
| But further allegations have emerged. Giancarlo Granda, a business partner of Falwell Jr's, told Reuters news agency on Monday that he had a six-year sexual relationship with the evangelical leader and his wife, Becki Falwell. | |
| "Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room," Mr Granda reportedly said in an interview. | |
| Mr Falwell Jr has not commented on the allegation. On Sunday he released a statement to the Washington Examiner saying his wife had had an affair and that the man involved had threatened to "deliberately embarrass my wife, family, and Liberty University". | |
| He also spoke of the "emotional toll" the affair had had on him. |