UNITED KINGDOM
Croydon Advertiser
A PASTOR sexually abused women by brainwashing them in spanking sessions that he said would exorcise their demons, a court has heard.
Howard Curtis, 72, is accused of running a “cult” when he was pastor and leader of the “religion-based-organisation” Coulsdon Christian Fellowship, in Chipstead Valley Road, where he would allegedly spank women and children “to bring them closer to God”.
Curtis, now of Bloxworth Close, Wallington, denies a total of 12 charges, including four counts of sexual assault, two of indecent assault, five of child cruelty and one of assault by penetration, against seven different victims.
His trial started at Croydon Crown Court today.
Jane Osborne, prosecuting, said Curtis had “disciplined” the women, sometimes at his office in the church or their own homes, by spanking them, for his own pleasure.
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