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	Sect Leader Gets 10 Years in Sex Case By Barry Massey The Denver Post December 31, 2008 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11339782 LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The leader of an apocalyptic religious sect in northeastern New Mexico was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for sexual misconduct with teenage female followers. Wayne Bent, 67, received the sentence for criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. State District Judge Gerald Baca imposed the maximum sentence of 18 years but suspended eight years. Under state law, Bent must serve 85 percent of the sentence before he can be released. Bent spoke to the court before being sentenced and maintained there had been no wrongdoing. "No wrong has been done in Strong City. The people that live there will tell you that. No crime has been committed," Bent told the judge. "Nobody has been molested," he said, adding that he had "never touched a girl sexually." A jury earlier this month convicted Bent of the felonies for laying in bed with naked 14- and 16-year-old sisters in separate incidents in 2006. Bent and the sisters testified the incidents were spiritual exercises and nothing happened sexually. The judge said Bent had "crossed the line" under state law in allowing the girls to lie naked with him. Bent, who calls himself Michael Travesser, is the leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church. Its almost four dozen adult followers live in a compound close to the New Mexico-Colorado border.
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