I reallly want to move away from this TBN story, but I just can’t. It keeps getting better and better.

Let’s review what we already know.

Enoch Lonnie Ford is a former TBN employee who reached a settlement with the network in 1998 for $425,000 over a wrongful termination claim.

Part of that settlement provided that Ford could not discuss the details of the case. In the time since, Ford confronted Paul Crouch and asked the network’s founder to pay him millions of dollars for the rights to a manuscript Ford had written.

In that manuscript, Ford describes a sexual encounter he had with Crouch at a TBN-owned cabin in 1996. Crouch denies the allegations, and TBN is pursuing legal actions to silence Ford.

Here are some interesting things to note. First, Paul and Jan Crouch receive salaries from TBN that total over $750,000, including benefits and perks that include a private jet and numerous homes around the country. The network brings in nearly $120 million each year in donations.

TBN denies that the money spent to settle with Ford was ministry money. However, TBN is not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, so there’s no way to honestly analyze their books. Further, TBN is being represented by Colby May, who is described in TBN press releases as either a lawyer or spokesperson. May is also a senior attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice, headed by Jay Sekulow and founded by Pat Rogertson.

It’s now being reported that, if nothing else, Ford’s relationship with TBN included having his personal debt paid off, with ministry dollars:

Ford also claimed Crouch told him the ministry would pay off about $17,000 of his debts. Ford believes Crouch was trying to pay him off. Ministry officials confirmed that the ministry paid at least some of his debts.

Talk about a smoking gun. I can understand if TBN gave Ford, a recovering drug addict, a job because they wanted to help him out. Crouch may have even befriended the man when they met in 1991. It looks really suspicious to fire him from the network, then settle with him for $425,000 when he claims wrongful termination. I guess you could explain that as being a PR move to keep the name of TBN out of the mud and avoid a protracted legal battle.

But to confirm that TBN paid off this guy’s personal debts just sounds like a complete admission that Crouch and Ford had a personal, sexual relationship.

I don’t know how it can get much worse than this, but I’m sure it will.