Brazil arrests U.S. religious cult leader wanted on underage sex charges

By Joel Landau
New York Daily News
March 1, 2015

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/brazil-arrests-fugitive-u-s-religious-cult-leader-article-1.2133549

Victor Arden Barnard sits in a police station after his arrest.

Lindsay Tornambe and Jess Schweiss say they were just 12 and 13 when they first went to live with Barnard at his religious compound.

Victor Arden Barnard is being held in a Brazilian city awaiting extradition to the U.S.

Barnard allegedly claimed to represent Christ in the flesh.

He had up to 10 young 'maidens' living at his compound.

Brazilian police have captured a fugitive minister from the U.S. who dressed as Jesus and allegedly sexually assaulted young "maidens" he kept in isolation as part of a religious cult.

The U.S. Marshals and Brazilian authorities announced Saturday the arrest of Victor Arden Barnard, 53. Barnard, who was on the Marshals' Most Wanted list, faces 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct after two women stepped forward and claimed he had abused them for years beginning when they were 12 and 13 years old.

Authorities charge the self-described minister created a compound in Finlayson, Minn., about 90 miles north of Minneapolis called "Shepherd's Camp." He kept 10 virgin girls, he would call "maidens," at the premises away from their families, police said.

The two women say that he abused one from age 13 to 22 and another from age 12 to 20. Officials tried to get other women to come forward but they refused.

Barnard is being held Natal, Brazil, and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. He has been a fugitive since 2010. Authorities said they believed he had moved his cult to Washington state.

He would coerce the girls into the sexual acts through religious intimidation -- informing one girl she would remain a virgin because he was a "man of God," authorities said.

His other bizarre claims: that he represented Christ in the flesh, that Jesus Christ had Mary Magdalene and other women who followed him, that King Solomon slept with many concubines, that a firstborn child was to be sacrificed to God, and that it was normal for Barnard to have sex with her because it was in God's Word, according to a criminal complaint.

Lindsay Tornambe, who told police Barnard chose her as a maiden when she was 13, told the Minneapolis Star she was ready to see him be locked up.

"As soon as I got the news, I started crying. It feels so surreal," she said. "I knew the day would come, but it finally came and it's almost numbing."

Police said Barnard had been in his apartment for about six months. They also took a 33-year-old Brazilian woman into custody and confiscated computers, cellphones, pen drives and other objects.