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	NM Sect Leader Makes First Court Appearance Associated Press, carried in KDBC May 8, 2008 http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8290593 CLAYTON, N.M. (AP) - A judge has rejected a request by a self-described Messiah accused of sex crimes against minors to be released on his own recognizance. Union County Magistrate Ilene Taylor cut 66-year-old Wayne Bent's bond from $500,000 to $55,000. Bent says he doesn't have any money to pay for an attorney, so he's been assigned a public defender, who tried to enter a plea of not guilty. Taylor says Bent's first appearance in court was not the appropriate hearing to enter a plea. Bent is the leader of an apocalyptic sect in northeastern New Mexico. He's charged with three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. An affidavit alleges Bent touched three underage female followers when they lay naked with him.
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