American Pastor on 15 Most Wanted List Arrested in Brazil; Prosecutors Call Him 'Master Manipulator'
Brazilian authorities say they have arrested Victor Arden Barnard, an American pastor wanted in connection with a long list of sex charges in Minnesota and who told his church members he was "Christ in the flesh."
The Public Security Secretariat for the Rio Grande do Norte state government says on its website that the 53-year-old pastor was arrested late Friday from an apartment in northeastern Brazil.
Authorities also arrested a 33-year-old Brazilian woman, who allegedly gave cover to the pastor, according to local media.
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Barnard was on the U.S. Marshal's 15 Most Wanted List along with a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, according to CNN.
He was also wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Barnard was wanted for 59 counts of sexual assaults on two young girls who were members of his church, River Road Fellowship.
"I had never met anybody that I thought loved the word of God as much as Victor Barnard did," Ruth Johnson, a former member of Barnard's church, earlier told CNN's "The Hunt with John Walsh" show.
In June 2000, Barnard asked some of his church members to allow their firstborn daughters to live with him for a camp, named "The Maidens," which was held in a secluded area in rural Minnesota.
Barnard told the girls he was "Christ in the flesh" and that the church was the bride of Christ, and therefore the church was supposed to be married to him.
"Everything that a wife would do, they did for him," Johnson said.
Lindsay Tornambe, one of the girls who was abused from the ages of 13 to 22, alleges in her complaint that a group of 10 young girls and women were known as Alamoths, or maidens, and sent to a summer camp.
Barnard later moved to Washington state after his affairs with married women led to a split in the church, according to the complaint.
"I am ready to have him locked up," Tornambe told the Star Tribune. "As soon as I got the news, I started crying. It feels so surreal. I knew the day would come, but it finally came and it's almost numbing."
Minnesota prosecutors called him a "master manipulator."
Barnard was able to influence his church members so much that investigators found it difficult to convince the congregants to cooperate in the probe.
