Fugitive Minnesota cult leader arrested in Brazil

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Star Tribune

Fugitive Minnesota cult leader arrested in Brazil
Article by: JENNIFER BROOKS , Star Tribune
Updated: February 28, 2015 - 2:01 PM

A Minnesota cult leader who has been the subject of a global manhunt was arrested Saturday in Brazil, according to Brazilian media reports.

Victor A. Barnard, 53, faces 59 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a flock of girls and young women whom he called his “Maidens Group” as part of the River Road Fellowship in Pine County.

Barnard ruled “like a rock star” over the camp and sexually exploited girls and young women at his whim while they lived apart from their families, according to court papers, which spell out the alleged abuses against two unnamed teens.

In November, Barnard was placed on the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list. He had been thought to be hiding in Washington state, where he fled after some adult members of the cult voiced suspicions about his activities.




Read more: http://www.startribune.com/local/294512991.html

[Shrike47]

1. It always interests me how many cult leaders are into sex with girls. That seems to be a focus.

[7962]

2. Good. Hope he rots in jail

[Thinkingabout]

3. Glad to see he has been arrested, the hurt and pain he has caused will be long lasting.

This may not be the last of perverts operating as "faith" based operation but one which is ended. He was featured on one of John Walsh programs.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Didn't know! Found this from his site, after seeing your post:

Victor Barnard, 52

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As a pastor, Victor Barnard inspired his congregants with his charisma and apparent devotion to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

"I had never met anybody that I thought loved the word of God as much as Victor Barnard did," said Ruth Johnson, a former member of Barnard's River Road Fellowship. "He was a pastor; he basically took personal care in people, invested into them, and tried to bring the best out of you," said David Larsen, a former leader of the River Road Fellowship, which consisted of about 10 to 15 members.

Larsen said he helped Barnard set up a so-called "shepherd's camp" in the mid-1990s in Pine County, Minnesota, to help bring more people into the church. Several of his congregants, including Johnson, moved to the rural area about 100 miles north of Minneapolis to be a part of the camp.

"We sold our homes and the funds went into renovation and things that needed to be rehabbed," Johnson said. Some congregants who had experience in construction and electrical work helped set up the camp, she said.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/06/us/the-hunt/

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Seeing this information really adds depth. Thank you, Thinkingabout.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Brazil arrests US sect leader wanted on sex charges

Brazil arrests US sect leader wanted on sex charges
By BRAD BROOKS and AMY FORLITI, Associated Press

4 hrs ago

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian authorities said Saturday they arrested a self-professed minister put on a U.S. most-wanted list for allegedly molesting two girls in a "Maidens Group" at his religious fellowship in rural Minnesota.

A statement posted on the website of the Public Security Secretariat for the Rio Grande do Norte state government reported the arrest of Victor Arden Barnard, 53. The U.S. Marshals Service also confirmed the arrest in a statement.

The Brazilian statement said police captured him Friday night in an apartment near a paradisiacal white-sand beach in northeastern Brazil. He was being held in the city of Natal to await extradition.

Bernard, who faces 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct, was on the most-wanted list of the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to a criminal complaint in the U.S., two women said they were among about 10 girls and young women who lived apart from their families in a camp that Barnard set up near Finlayson, Minnesota, about 90 miles north of Minneapolis.

More:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/brazil-arrests-us-sect-leader-wanted-on-sex-charges/ar-BBi5GvN?ocid=u142dhp

[tomsaiditagain]

6. Another freak in sheep's clothing

According to the book they supposedly live by, or lie by...these out to lunch freaks of nature are so bent on sexual desires they resort to pretending they are the one and only Christ. Or a close relative. Make like your all that and a bag of chips with all of the flavors of dip at hand, its get some time whenever you want it.

Man oh man, power and perversion oh my.

[UpInArms]

7. my grandmother used to say:

"God uses good people and bad people use God"

[Judi Lynn]

8. Former member of Minnesota sect: Woman with cult leader arrested in Brazil was part of group

Former member of Minnesota sect: Woman with cult leader arrested in Brazil was part of group
Article by: STEVE KARNOWSKI , Associated Press
Updated: March 2, 2015 - 5:40 PM

MINNEAPOLIS — A former member of a small religious sect said Monday that the woman arrested with its leader in Brazil was part of the group back when it was based in Minnesota.

Brazilian authorities on Saturday announced the arrest of self-professed minister Victor Arden Barnard, 53, leader of the River Road Fellowship, who was on the most-wanted list of the U.S. Marshals Service. He was being held pending extradition.

Barnard was charged in Pine County last April with 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sexual relationships with two girls who were among around 10 girls and young women he had inducted into his "Maidens Group" at the fellowship's secluded compound near Finlayson, about 90 miles north of Minneapolis.

The Marshals Service says Barnard moved to Washington state in 2010 after some adult members began questioning him, and several of his maidens and other followers joined him there. Barnard was captured late Friday in an apartment near a white-sand beach in northeastern Brazil, along with a 33-year-old woman. The Associated Press isn't naming her in case she was a victim and because she hasn't been charged.

But former River Road Fellowship member Jeff Sjolander of Duluth, who welcomed Barnard's arrest, recognized her name and told The Associated Press that she had been one of the "maidens" in Finlayson, so he wasn't surprised that she was with Barnard in Brazil.

More:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/294740581.html

[Judi Lynn]

9. Mr. Barnard was mentioned at D.U. last year, before he fled the country:

cleanhippie (17,393 posts)

Minnesota minister told girls that ‘God’s word’ made raping them normal


Authorities in Minnesota have launched a manhunt for a minister who is facing 59 counts of first-degree sexual assault in cases against girls — called “Maidens” — as young as 13.

The Star Tribune reported that authorities announced on Tuesday that the two women who had come forward with allegations against 59-year-old Victor Barnard, the former minister of a cult-like faith community in central Minnesota, were not the only girls raped by the religious leader.

In a phone interview with the paper, one of the women, Lindsay Tornambe, confirmed the details of charges that were filed in court documents by prosecutors.

Tornambe, now 27, said that she met Barnard at the age of 9 as a part of her parents’ home schooling. At age 11, her family joined the “Shepherd’s Camp.” And then, Barnard chose her to be “sacrificed to God” by raping her at age 13 in 2000.

The rapes continued over the course of nine years.

“If I wasn’t being spiritual or following his orders, he wouldn’t have sex with us,” she recalled. “If we were doing well, it was almost like he rewarded us.”

In the charging documents, the second victim explained how Barnard compared their relationship to Jesus and Mary Magdalene. And he spoke of the concubines of King Solomon. He allegedly told the girls that sex with him was normal because of “God’s word.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/16/minnesota-minister-told-girls-that-gods-word-made-raping-them-normal/#.U07eV5n3RKs.facebook

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1218124329

[Blue_Tires]

10. Damn...Brazil let him in??