More than a year after Mike Bickle stepped away from ministry amid a sexual abuse “crisis,” an independent investigation revealed that he sexually abused at least 17 women, including several minors, beginning 50 years ago. Bickle, 69, is founder of the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC), a charismatic ministry that cut ties with him in December 2023 due to “inappropriate behavior.”
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of sexual abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
This week, Firefly Independent Sexual Abuse Investigations made public its 68-page investigative report into Bickle. After interviewing 210 people and reviewing more than 6,000 documents, Firefly concluded that Bickle perpetrated “sexually abusive misconduct, including sexual abuse, rape, clergy abuse, and spiritual abuse” against 17 women “beginning to our knowledge in the mid-1970s.”
In addition, IHOPKC’s leadership team suppressed and minimized reports of abuse, “rather than supporting the victims or staff who reported these incidents,” according to the report. Survivors experienced additional trauma, Firefly found, when IHOPKC staff blamed and discredited them, retaliated against them, forced them to apologize, and urged them not to contact police.
Investigators also uncovered 16 cases of sexual abuse and misconduct by other unnamed individuals linked to IHOPKC. That points to “a broader issue within the organization that requires immediate attention and action,” stated the report, funded by Tikkun Global.
IHOPKC, known for its 24/7 prayer room, has struggled in the wake of the abuse scandal. Its Forerunner Church held a final worship service in May 2024.
Bickle, who did not participate in the investigation, has not responded to media requests for comment. ChurchLeaders contacted Bickle and IHOPKC and will update this article with any replies.
Mike Bickle Misused Authority To Groom and Abuse, Report States
As ChurchLeaders reported, in December 2023 Bickle repented publicly of “moral failures” from decades ago but did not admit to recent abuse or “the more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting.”
The new report paints a different picture. Firefly’s investigation, led by former Pennsylvania police chief Jim Holler, detailed how Bickle allegedly groomed, manipulated, and sexually assaulted girls and women. The report said Bickle isolated some of them in church-owned housing, pushed boundaries through objectifying comments and physical touch, and used prophetic language to justify sexual abuse.
Survivors described to investigators how Bickle commented on their appearance and touched them sexually in settings including the IHOPKC prayer room, his office, and at restaurants. The behavior included Bickle putting his hands down women’s pants and rubbing their legs, commenting on whether they had shaved.
During worship services, Bickle would “grab girls by their throats, kiss them on their faces, and ruffle their hair,” the report said. That was “a calculated tactic to desensitize his victims to physical contact,” it added, “gradually pushing boundaries until they were normalized.”
Survivors and witnesses said other IHOPKC leaders were aware of the touching. One person described telling Forerunner Church Pastor Isaac Bennett about concerning behavior, and Bennett reportedly replied, “That’s just the way Bickle is.”
Other interviewees told investigators that Bickle sent “hundreds of secretive communications” to someone else’s wife, received “personal massages” in his office, and created “circumstances where victims would observe him undressed and aroused.”
Survivors Detail Controlling Behaviors By Mike Bickle
The unredacted report names Deborah Perkins as the survivor who first made abuse allegations against Bickle, in October 2023. She said Bickle manipulated and abused her for three years in the late ’90s, starting when she was 19.
RELATED: Mike Bickle Accused of Sexually Abusing 14-Year-Old Prior to Founding IHOPKC
According to the report, Bickle added Perkins to his Friend of the Bridegroom team of young women who lived together and were required to “fast and maintain celibacy.” Bickle reportedly controlled the team members, gave them gifts, and gained the trust of their family members.
He offered the women “Papa time” with him, wrote them notes with messages such as, “You’re mine,” and told several women (separately) that he’d marry them after his wife died.
