Jerry Fallwell Jr, the president of the private evangelical Christian institution, Liberty University, has resigned after more details emerged about a sex scandal involving him, his wife and their former pool attendant. 

Falwell tended his resignation on Monday after a Reuters report revealed intimate details about the illicit relationship, which was alleged to have been ongoing for several years.

There was some confusion over the executive's departure, with Liberty releasing a statement on Monday noting that he initially agreed to resign before withdrawing his resignation, supposedly after reading media reports about the situation. Hours later, Falwell confirmed to the Wall Street Journal and ABC News that he had indeed formally quit the post. 

The couple's alleged actions have sparked accusations of hypocrisy, not least because Liberty University's honour code specifies that "sexual relations outside of a biblically ordained marriage between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman are not permissible".

On Sunday, just a day before more details on the situation were published, Falwell released a statement to the Washington Examiner in which he admitted that his wife had developed a relationship with the former business associate, but, contrary to the man's claims, Falwell insisted that he was not personally involved.

Falwell also alleged that the man had attempted to extort and blackmail him over the affair and had threatened to "deliberately embarrass my wife, family, and Liberty University".

Falwell's decision to resign comes after Liberty placed him on a leave of absence over a questionable photo which appeared on his Instagram account - the photo shows Falwell with his trousers unzipped and his arm around a woman who was later confirmed to be his wife's female assistant.