MINNESOTA/BRAZIL
New York Daily News
BY JOEL LANDAU NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, March 1, 2015
Brazilian police have captured a fugitive minister from the U.S. who dressed as Jesus and allegedly sexually assaulted young girls 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 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.
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