"the Prophet" Punched, Kicked and Spit on His Followers and Forced Them to Strip in Church

Toronto Sun
May 11, 2016

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/10/the-prophet-punched-kicked-and-spit-on-his-followers-and-forced-them-to-strip-in-church

Fred King, center, follows an unidentified woman, left, and a member of his legal team into the courthouse on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 in Owen Sound, Ont. James Masters/The Owen Sound Sun Times/Postmedia Network

Alleged polygamist Fred King, the longtime leader of a cult-like church in Ontario and known to his followers as "The Prophet," pleaded guilty to a string charges in court Tuesday.

In an agreed statement of facts, 57-year-old King admitted to spitting on people, kicking, punching or slapping church members and making some of them strip in front of the rest of the congregation.

Sixteen other charges -- including sexual assault, sexual interference, and uttering death threats -- were withdrawn.

The charges date back to his time as leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored in Chatsworth, Ont. from 1978 to 2008.

King was alleged to have had several wives, who were handed down from his father, Stan King, who led the church before him.

He apparently drew on Mormon doctrine -- including the now-banned practice of polygamy -- to fashion his own more fundamentalist church.

The odd sect began at a farmhouse near Sauble Beach, then it moved to a bankrupt ski resort in the early 1980s.

King disappeared in 2012, just after allegations of physical and sexual assault against him were made by former members.

In late 2012, Owen Sound resident Carol Christie alleged in media interviews she spent close to 40 years brainwashed and under the control of Stan King, who died in 1986, and another church leader.

Her story involved claims of polygamy, sexual abuse and missed police opportunities to uncover it. She wrote a book called Property: The True Story of a Polygamous Church Wife.

"(The church) was just filled with bizarre, insane everything. It was a living hell," Christie said in earlier interviews. "Your faith is based on fear because you're terrorized psychologically."

She and some others who left the compound later sued and won, but the settlement remains secret due to a confidentiality agreement.

King was arrested in April 2014, hiding out in a Hamilton hotel, after a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest.

He didn't face polygamy charges, and most of Christie's allegations haven't been proven in criminal court.

Christie attended court Tuesday to watch as her former alleged tormentor and husband pleaded guilty to nine of the charges he faced.

"I hope it will be the end of the church, but I don't know," she told Bayshore Broadcasting outside the courthouse.

King is to be sentenced on Sept. 14.

His brother, Judson King, 61, is set to stand trial in June on charges of sexual assault, assault and assault with a weapon from 1981 to 2007.

- with files from The Canadian Press