Follower of imprisoned cult leader Wayne Bent talks about death wish

KOB-TV 4 - New Mexico February 2, 2009

Just hours later, deputies took her away from her cult compound near Clayton where she has lived in isolation since she was six years old, along with others who believe Wayne Bent to be the messiah.

By: Jeremy Jojola, Eyewitness News 4, and Kurt Christopher, KOB.com

Esther (above) told Eyewitness News 4 she would not live with imprisoned cult leader Wayne Bent's

A New Mexico cult member has spoken exclusively to Eyewitness News 4 about why she wants to die for Wayne Bent, the man she believes to be God but a jury convicted as a child molester.

Eyewitness News 4 investigative reporter Jeremy Jojola spoke with the woman, known as Esther, just hours before deputies took her away from her cult compound near Clayton. It is where she has lived in isolation since she was six years old, along with others who believe Wayne Bent to be the messiah.

The compound, known as Strong City, is 311 miles from Albuquerque, the last 30 on dirt road. It is here in a trailer home that we found a pale and weak looking woman with a heating pad on her lap, sitting still in a chair. She is 25 years old.

"The last time I ate was the morning of December 30th," said Esther.

That was the day Wayne Bent, known as "Michael" to his cult, was sent to prison for ten years for touching a teenage follower's breast as she lay naked with him.

He claims it was a healing ceremony.

"I swear by God that he is in jail over a lie, and I won't support that," said Esther. "I'm willing to die on what I stand on, which is purely God's instructions to me. I wouldn't be doing this if God hadn't told me to, but I'm willing to die doing what God told me to do, and in essence, yes, it would be for Wayne Bent."

Esther wrote out a signed statement refusing medical care, saying "I don't want to be resuscitated unless Wayne Bent is released."

"I'll stand like a rock," she said. "I'm not giving in."

"I love Michael [Bent] with all my heart, and he means more to me than the world will ever know, and he's just precious to me, and I'm not going to live with his suffering."

"I want people to just leave me alone," she said. "Let me do what my religious beliefs are."

Jeff Bent, Wayne Bent's son, also signed Esther's statement as a witness.

"It's not my heart's desire for Esther to fast on the level she is and taking it to this length," said Jeff Bent. "But that's her conviction, and she's really acting out how we all feel about this injustice, and we're going to fight it."

But the written statement didn't work. Ten hours after Eyewitness News 4's Jeremy Jojola sat down with her, Union County deputies handed Esther a judge's order demanding she get into an ambulance to receive medical attention. The video was posted online by cult members.

Esther's older sister, who is no longer part of the cult, got the order to keep Esther from harming herself. Elsa Sayer is also a former member of the Strong City Cult. She has no problem with deputies hauling Esther off to the hospital

"It's just killing herself, for no reason I see," said Sayer.

It was Sayer's two daughters who climbed into Wayne Bent's bed naked, leading to the charges against him. Sayer hopes now that Bent is gone, his followers will see the light.

"I am glad that he's locked up in a way, because it gives everybody out there a chance to be away from his influence. It gives them a chance to think for themselves, so might see the real truth and stuff," said Sayer.

There are 45 people remaining in the Strong City compound, according to Jeff Bent. No one has moved away since his father was sent to prison.

As for Esther, it's unclear how long she will have to remain in the hospital or in her sister's custody. Medical research shows someone can suffer permanent organ damage after 30 days of starvation.

This article was found at:

http://kob.com/article/stories/S771532.shtml?cat=520


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Hunger-striking cult leader may eat again

KOB Eye Witness News - New Mexico
January 2, 2009

By: Eyewitness News 4

Cult leader and convicted child molester Wayne Bent said he is on a hunger strike that will eventually kill him--but he may have had a change of heart.
Bent, the leader of an apocalyptic cult in northern New Mexico, told a judge this week he would only serve several days of his 10-year-sentence. The self-proclaimed messiah has not been eating, saying he will die behind bars.
Throughout his trial, the 67-year-old sect leader repeatedly said he would refuse to eat if he was sent to prison:
"If I go to jail again, I am not going to live there. I will not," he told the court.
Bent hasn't been eating since he entered the prison system on Tuesday. Prison medical staff have been keeping close watch over the cult leader.
Late Thursday, they said Bent may have changed his mind.
"He says he plans to end the religious fast tomorrow (Friday) at noon," said Tia Bland of the New Mexico Department of Corrections. "He did talk to prison staff and shared some sentiments with them. It sort of sounds like he's made peace with the fact that he's in prison and he intends to do his time as comfortably as he can."
Bent went on a hunger strike in April after children were removed from his compound. He subesequently dropped that hunger strike, but said the world would end in October.
Bent could remain at the Los Lunas prison for the next month until the state decides where he should serve his sentence.
Bent was sentenced to 18 years with eight years suspended for felony convictions on one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor Tuesday. At his sentencing, bent maintained that no crime was committed at his Strong City compound. He said a jury of his followers would have agreed.
This article was found at:
http://kob.com/article/stories/S726612.shtml?cat=520

Cult leader sentenced to 18 years

KRQE - New Mexico December 30, 2008

Bent calls verdict crucifixion

• Reporter: Tim Maestas
• Web Producer: Bill Diven
• Web Producer: Todd Dukart

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE) - Cult leader Wayne Bent was sentenced on Tuesday to 18 years in prison for molesting a young follower.

Eight years of Bent's sentence were suspended, making the effective sentence 10 years unless the suspension is revoked.
Before the sentencing, the self-proclaimed messiah said in an online posting that the courts have again crucified the son of God.
Wayne Bent faced a mandatory minimum sentence of three years and up to 18 years after being found guilty by a jury in Taos on Dec. 15. He was convicted of one of two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Bent, 67, admitted lying naked with the two girls in 2006 but said any touching was an act of religious healing with no sexual overtones.
Bent is the leader of the Lord our Righteousness Church which also refers to its remote Union County compound northwest as Strong City.
Shortly after the verdict he told reporters he had been falsely convicted. Since then he's posted a statement on the group's Web site that printed out to 17 pages.
By convicting him jurors have assured their day of destruction, he wrote.
"Now at Christmas time 2008 ... they have crucified the son of God afresh," Bent added. "The jury was a very good picture of the world, and by convicting the son of God for a crime that he did not commit, as they did with Jesus Christ, they have convicted themselves."
To read Bent's statement in its entirety, click here .

This article was found at:

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/crime_krqe_clayton_cult_leader_calls_
verdict_crucifixion_
200812291835

Son Says Apocalyptic Sect Leader Won't Live Long in Prison

Fox News - December 16, 2008

Associated Press


TAOS, N.M. — The leader of an apocalyptic sect convicted of sexual misconduct with young female followers isn't hoping for a break when he's sentenced and likely wouldn't live long in prison, his son says.

Wayne Bent, 67, faces up to 18 years in prison for his felony convictions on Monday on one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

State law requires a minimum of three years in prison on the criminal sexual contact conviction.

Bent says he probably wouldn't eat if were locked up again.

"He says he's finished with his work. ... He has nothing more to do here," Jeff Bent said after the verdict was announced in a courtroom in Taos.

"He's told me many times he's not going to be in prison very long," the son said.

Wayne Bent's court-appointed lawyer, Sarah Montoya of Raton, said she expects to appeal the case.

"It was really about religion," she said. "He was convicted because of prejudice."

Bent, a former minister with the Seventh-day Adventist Church who broke away two decades ago, is the leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church. He claims God spoke to him in 2000 and told him he was the Messiah.

Bent and the two young sisters who lay naked with him — 14 and 16 at the time — claim the separate incidents in July and August 2006 were spiritual exercises.

"It was a religious healing experience for me. ... It had nothing to do with sex," the younger of the girls, now 17, said after the verdict. "It had to do with healing to my heart."

Bent was found not guilty on a criminal sexual contact charge involving the younger girl, whose name in the sect is Healed.

He was convicted of criminal sexual contact with Healed's older sister, and for contributing to the delinquency of both girls.

Bent testified last week that he placed his hand on the sternums, but not the breasts, of the girls.

The older sister testified he also kissed her breast.

"Just as with Jesus they convicted an innocent man," Bent said after the verdict.

But he said it was all part of God's plan.

"These encounters with these two girls were intended to offend your world and make you mad and convict me," he said.

Bent was allowed to return to the remote ranch called Strong City, near the Colorado-New Mexico line, to await sentencing.

He must stay there except for visits with his lawyer and appointments related to pre-sentence evaluation, and he was told not to contact the girls.

The younger girl, now 17, is living with her parents but wants to return to Strong City when she turns 18.

"God's in control and my heart's with Michael, and it's like wherever he goes, that's where my heart is," she said. Bent also uses the name Michael Travesser.

She and Bent were allowed to talk briefly after the verdict. Montoya, who attended the meeting, said that was a promise the district attorney made to the girl before the trial.

Bent testified that Healed came to his house late at night in the summer of 2006, after he was in bed, and "asked to be skin-to-skin with me."

Bent said there was space between him and the girl and that he was wearing undershorts; the girl had testified she believed he was naked.

Bent was clothed when the older sister came to him in daylight hours a couple of days later, according to testimony.

Jeff Bent said he believed it was the "end of the road for the world" because of his father's conviction.

He sidestepped questions about whether the 45 or so church members would fast if Wayne Bent did while he was in prison. Church members had indicated last week that they would.

He also refused to say what would happen to the sect if Bent were imprisoned.

"Today we're going home. That's all I can tell you," he said.

This article was found at:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,467590,00.html

Leader of NM sect guilty in child sex case

Associated Press - December 15, 2008

by Deborah Baker

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — An apocalyptic religious sect's leader was convicted Monday of criminal sexual contact with an underage girl in an incident he called a spiritual healing exercise.
Wayne Bent, 67, was found guilty of one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is the self-described Messiah and leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church in New Mexico.
"Just as with Jesus, they've convicted an innocent man," Bent said after the verdict.
Bent, who calls himself Michael Travesser, faced two counts each of criminal sexual contact of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in allegations involving two sisters, ages 14 and 16, in 2006. He was acquitted on the criminal sexual contact charge involving the younger girl.
His court-appointed lawyer, Sarah Montoya of Raton, said she expects to file an appeal.
"It was really about religion," she said. "He was convicted because of prejudice."
Bent testified last week he placed his hand on the sternums, but not the breasts, of the teenagers as they lay naked with him in separate incidents. He said he was careful that the spiritual healing exercises with the sisters not take a sexual turn.
The younger girl, now 17, said in an interview after the verdict that she was happy to hear Bent was cleared on the more serious of the counts involving her.
"It was a religious healing experience for me. ... It had nothing to do with sex," she said. "It had to do with healing to my heart."
Bent said the verdict was part of God's plan. "These encounters with these two girls were intended to offend your world and make you mad and convict me," he said.
His son, Jeff Bent, said church followers were not discouraged. "It's just part of our prophetic time that we're in," he said.
Wayne Bent has said he probably would not eat if he went to prison and that he wouldn't expect to survive the experience. His son said he would regard the verdict "as a death sentence" for his father.
Prosecutor Emilio Chavez told jurors in closing arguments the case was not about religion and that Bent must be treated like anyone else.
"The state's not saying any of this was for sexual gratification ... we are not saying his beliefs are wrong ... we are treating Mr. Bent the same as anyone else," the prosecutor said.
Bent was allowed to return to Strong City, the sect's compound near Clayton, pending sentencing on Dec. 29. He could face a maximum of 18 years in prison.
This article was found at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIFBKPQcesX84wXvSFNHAToM
VzwwD953FIBG3

NM sect leader says he touched girls' sternums

The Associated Press - December 11, 2008

by Deborah Baker

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — The leader of an apocalyptic religious sect testified Thursday that he lay in bed with and touched the sternums — but the not the breasts — of naked 14- and 16-year-olds.
Wayne Bent said he was careful that the healing exercises with the two sisters on separate occasions in 2006 were not of a sexual nature.
"I never touched any fleshy part of the breast," Bent said during about one hour on the witness stand during the fourth day of his trial.
Bent, 67, a self-described Messiah and leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church, is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for separate incidents 2006.
He said he was very cautious to avoid any sexual activity with the girls. They were unclothed "because that's what they requested of me," he said.
Bent, who calls himself Michael Travesser, said the 14-year-old came to his house late at night after he was already in bed and "asked to be skin-to-skin with me." But Bent said, "There was a space in between us."
He also said he "could have" kissed the 16-year-old because it's something he does with church members.
On Wednesday, the two sisters testified that they had lain naked in bed with Bent on separate occasions and that he had kissed them.
Bent's attorney, Sarah Montoya of Raton, told jurors in her opening statement Monday there was no sexual contact and no crimes were committed.
The girls' parents are former followers of Bent. At the time of the allegations, the daughters were living in Strong City but the parents, then still church members, had moved out of the compound.
The defense rested its case Thursday and closing statements were expected Friday.
This article was found at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIFBKPQcesX84wXvSFNHAToM
VzwwD950SAUG0

Teens testify in cult leader’s molestation trial

KOB Eyewitness News4 - New Mexico

By: Jeremy Jojola, Eyewitness News 4, and Reed Upton, KOB.com

Two teens who prosecutors say were sexually fondled by the leader of a northern New Mexico cult testified Wednesday morning.
Wayne Bent, the leader of a Union County cult that calls itself The Lord Our Righteousness Church, is standing trial in Taos.
During the third day of the trial, the 14- and 16-year-old girls told jurors that they had been naked in bed with Bent but denied that anything sexual occurred.
The older girl testified that Bent kissed her several time on the lips and breasts while she was naked.
A child abuse expert also testified and said that Bent may have preyed on the two teenage girls like a sex predator.
"These girls seemed to have been possibly groomed by him in a way that a sex predator does and that is developing their trust in him by being kind and loving and mild gentle," said Dr. Elizabeth Dinsmore.
Bent, a self proclaimed Messiah, has said that the incidents were not sexual in nature but, rather, were religious.
On Tuesday, the girls’ mother, who has been kicked out of the cult, testified that the older girl has become angry and hurt since the incidents and the youngest girl has become distant.
Bent is expected to take the stand later in the trial.
This article was found at:
http://kob.com/article/stories/S700005.shtml?cat=500

‘Messiah’ Cult Leader Arrested

Albuquerque Journal - October 31, 2008

by Vic Vela

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The “Messiah” is back in jail. Union County sheriff’s deputies arrested cult leader Wayne Bent at his northern New Mexico compound Wednesday afternoon after a judge here issued a bench warrant when Bent failed to appear at a scheduled court hearing.

Bent and his followers in The Lord Our Righteousness Church have been fasting to protest charges that Bent had illegal sexual contact with underage girls at his Strong City compound near Des Moines. And his congregation believes they will ascend to heaven tonight,

Jeff Bent, the church leader’s son, said Thursday. “We don’t anticipate any future beyond Oct. 31,” he said.

Wayne Bent, who says he’s been anointed by God as the Messiah, was a no-show for a Las Vegas motions hearing in his criminal case. State District Judge Gerald E. Baca, who had specifically asked Bent to appear at the hearing in person, ordered that Bent be arrested when only his defense attorney showed up. Bent recently promised to stop cooperating with court proceedings.

Under Baca’s order, Bent was to be taken first to a Union County medical center for a physical and psychological evaluation.

Bent told the Journal in a recent interview that he has not eaten since Oct. 16 and was planning to go completely without water, beginning today. All of Bent’s followers at the compound — 45 adults — are following his example and some stopped drinking water last weekend, he said.

Jeff Bent said by telephone Thursday that his father’s “thinking is there will be no trial.” Wayne Bent’s followers believe that midnight tonight ends their “Year of Jubilee,” with a deliverance by God from their “earthly life,” Jeff Bent said. “We are glorified, given new bodies and ascend to heaven,” he said. The Year of Jubilee is “the year of judgment when the last trumpet is heard from God and God’s people are set free from their earthly bondage,” he added.

The window for God’s deliverance ends at midnight and he fully expects to be delivered by God and has no plans beyond that, Jeff Bent said. The church members believe “that if (the deliverance) doesn’t happen, they don’t want to go on living.” He said does not mean they will commit suicide, just that “they want to stop sustaining life.”

[...]

If the health of the church members comes into question because of their fasts, it doesn’t look like the state is going to intervene any time soon.

“It’s not the obligation of the district attorney’s office to check on the welfare of the people at Strong City,” said assistant district attorney Emilio J. Chavez during Wednesday’s court hearing. That’s a different tack than the DA’s office took in a court filing last week, when a prosecutor asked for a judge’s approval to make welfare checks at the Strong City compound on grounds that Bent’s followers may not be “competent” because they’re under his influence.

Jeff Bent said some relatives of the church members have shown up at the compound to try to take fasting members away, but they have not been allowed onto the property.

[...]

The legal question before Baca on Wednesday was to consider a change of venue for Bent’s upcoming trial, which the judge granted. Bent was scheduled to begin a weeklong trial Nov. 17 in Clayton, and it will now be in Taos at an undetermined date.

This article was found at:

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/22885/wayne-bent-cult

Apocalyptic Cult Leader Arrested for Failure to Appear in Court

Fox News - October 31, 2008
Associated Press

Wayne Bent's son, Jeff Bent, said: "We don't anticipate any future beyond Oct. 31."

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The leader of an apocalyptic sect who is accused of sex crimes against underage female followers has been arrested for failing to appear at a court hearing.

State District Judge Gerald Baca had asked Wayne Bent, leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church, to attend a hearing after Bent promised to stop cooperating with court proceedings. Baca issued a bench warrant when Bent did not show up.
Union County sheriff's deputies arrested Bent on Thursday at his compound, which sect members call Strong City, in northeastern New Mexico.
Baca ordered Bent taken to a medical center in Clayton for evaluation before going to jail.
Bent was indicted last spring on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He has contended that the touching was nonsexual and a "healing" measure.
Bent and his followers have been fasting to protest the charges. Bent hasn't eaten since Oct. 16, and he started his "no water or food" fast Thursday as he was taken away from the compound, according to the group's Web site.
"His fast will continue until he is delivered. The fast at Strong City will continue until our deliverance," a posting on the site states.In a telephone interview Thursday with the Albuquerque Journal, Bent's son, Jeff Bent, said: "We don't anticipate any future beyond Oct. 31." He said the group is expecting God to "deliver" them "free from earthly claims."

This article was found at:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445533,00.html

Cult leader's case headed to jury

KOB Eyewitness News 4 - New Mexico
October 21, 2008

A judge has decided to send the case of a self-styled messiah who is charged with molesting two young girls to a jury.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Judge Gerald E. Baca has ruled that he won't hear from the two girls that Wayne Bent is accused of touching while lying with them in a bed.
Bent, the leader of a cult that lives together in Strong City north of Clayton in Union County, contends that his actions were religious rather than sexual.
Bent was arrested in May and charged with fondling the girls.
The cult leader warns on his website that God will leave New Mexico a "burned field," because of his prosecution. He says he's been working on the entreaty for nearly two months.
Bent also says he is going on a hunger strike. The first week, he says he will eat one meal a day. The second week he will only drink juice and on the third, only water. After October 31, he says he won't eat or drink again until he is in heaven.
Bent says neither he nor his followers will commit suicide, but writes they are "leaving this world."
Bent says all of this is in protest of the way he is being treated by the state. His trial is scheduled to start November 17.
This article was found at:
http://kob.com/article/stories/S626607.shtml?cat=504

Cult leader Wayne Bent says his "persecution" is bringing about the end of the world

KOB TV - New Mexico

October 12, 2008





Wayne Bent

A self-proclaimed messiah being investigated for inappropriate contact with children says his "persecution" is bringing about the end of the world.

Union County cult leader Wayne Bent is accused of molesting children whom he says he was only "healing".

In a statement on his website, he says the investigation into his activities have caused such things as the crisis on Wall Street.

Bent is awaiting trial in Union County after he was accused of lying naked with underage nude girls. One of them says Bent kissed her on the lips and breasts. Bent says the encounter was a religious experience, not a sexual one.

The cult leader warns on his website that God will leave New Mexico a "burned field," because of his prosecution. He says he's been working on the entreaty for nearly two months.

Bent also says he is going on a hunger strike. The first week, he says he will eat one meal a day. The second week he will only drink juice and on the third, only water. After October 31, he says he won't eat or drink again until he is in heaven.

Bent says neither he nor his followers will commit suicide, but writes they are "leaving this world."

Bent says all of this is in protest of the way he is being treated by the state. His trial is scheduled to start November 17.

This article was found at:


http://kob.com/article/stories/S615833.shtml?cat=519

13-year-old girl state officials removed from apocalyptic cult has been returned to her parents

Las Cruces Sun-News - June 18, 2008

Teen from Clayton sect released from state custody

By DEBORAH BAKER Associated Press Writer

SANTA FE—A 13-year-old girl whom state officials removed from an apocalyptic group in northeastern New Mexico has been returned to her parents and may eventually move back to the sect, whose leader faces charges of sex crimes against teenage girls.
The girl, known in the sect as Willow, was released to her parents on Tuesday, said Romaine Serna, a spokeswoman for the state Children, Youth and Families Department.
Serna said agency workers "believe that the parents are committed to keeping their child safe."
The sect's leader, Wayne Bent—who calls himself Michael Travesser—celebrated by ending a fast he said he began on June 6 to protest Willow's absence.
A video posted on the Web site of The Lord Our Righteousness Church showed Bent eating lunch with Willow and her parents.
The video showed the girl being embraced by Bent and other church members as she arrived at Strong City, as sect members call their community.
She was one of three children removed in late April from the compound, located in a remote ranching area north of Clayton near the New Mexico-Colorado line.
Bent, 67, has since been indicted for sex crimes against two young female followers. Willow was not one of them.

Bent's son, Jeff Bent, said Tuesday in an e-mail that Willow will live with her father, who has moved to a ranch about 20 miles away from the compound. Her mother will remain at Strong City.
The younger Bent said that arrangement would continue for the summer, after which Willow could return to Strong City if she wanted to.
Serna acknowledged that Willow could end up back at the community, although she said the agency recommended an alternative living arrangement.
"Should her parents believe they can maintain her safely at the compound, they may in fact do so. ... We were assured that this child would be safe," Serna said.
Serna said it was only after "careful, careful assessment" that social workers who had been working with the family recommended to a state district judge that the child be returned to her parents.
"And that's not a recommendation we would make lightly," she added.
District Attorney Donald Gallegos of Taos initially brought charges against Wayne Bent in magistrate court in the cases of three girls, who had told authorities they "lay naked" with Bent, who claims to be the Messiah.
Wayne Bent has denied any molestation occurred.
"As I have said before, this touching was never sexual, or even close to sexual in feeling or intent," he wrote Tuesday on the Web site. "It was for healing, and it did heal."
When Gallegos took the case to a grand jury, he presented evidence involving two of the girls—who Wayne Bent says were 15 and 16 at the time of the incidents—but not the third girl, who was 12 at the time.
Bent was indicted on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The case is pending.
Serna said the boy who was removed from the compound is with his parents in another state and CYFD is no longer involved. The other girl who was removed remains in foster care, and CYFD is working with the girl and her parents, Serna said.
Authorities have said no minors remain in the community, which numbers about 50 people.
This article was found at:
http://www.lcsun-news.com/
ci_9612489

N.M. sect leader begins fast for child's return

The Associated Press - June 6, 2008
CLAYTON, N.M.—The leader of an apocalyptic sect accused of sex crimes against underage female followers said Friday he will not eat until state child welfare workers return a teenager who was removed from the sect's compound.
Two teenage girls and a boy were taken from the compound in northeastern New Mexico in late April by the state Children, Youth and Families Department after the allegations were raised against Wayne Bent, 67, who heads The Lord Our Righteousness Church.
Bent, who calls himself Michael Travesser, has been indicted by a grand jury on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He initially had been charged in magistrate court with alleged crimes against three girls who previously lived on the church's compound. The girls had told authorities they "lay naked" with Bent, who claims to be the Messiah.
Bent has denied any molestation occurred, and his followers say the charges are false.
Bent, in a posting Friday on the sect's Web site, wrote that he wants one teen—who he calls Willow—to be released from state custody and returned to her parents. He explained that he has "taken the course of fasting and prayer rather than continue to spar with the insane."

While being held in the Colfax County jail last month, Bent had also refused to eat or drink for a couple of days.
Bent wrote in Friday's posting that Willow was stressed and allegedly being mentally abused while in state custody.
"I am now at the place where I must act on behalf of Willow, even if it is to give up my life for her," he wrote. "The state uses me as an excuse to steal a child, and I am not going to give them that excuse. I will not permit them to use me for their own dark agenda."
CYFD spokeswoman Romaine Serna said she could not comment on the case due to a gag order imposed by the judge.
According to an e-mail from Bent's son, Jeff Bent, state District Judge John Paternoster on Friday denied a request for an emergency hearing regarding the teen's custody.
Bent and his followers have lived on a former ranch in a remote part of Colfax County near the New Mexico-Colorado line since 2000. Bent has acknowledged having sex with followers and lying naked with virgins, but he denies any children or adults were molested at the community. He has said the virgins asked for sex and he refused.
This article was found at:
http://www.lcsun-news.com/
ci_9506685

Self-proclaimed messiah says that "he is ready to go" and "I want to take all of my children with me"

Red Orbit - May 27, 2008

Cops Worry About Web Posting
By VIC VELA | Albuquerque Journal Northern Bureau

The self-proclaimed messiah of a northern New Mexico doomsday cult said recently that "he is ready to go" and "I want to take all of my children with me" in a Web site posting that has caught the attention of law enforcement.
But Wayne C. Bent, 67, denies his remarks indicate that his group is planning a mass suicide.
Bent -- indicted earlier this week by a grand jury on charges of sex crimes against children -- wrote on his group's Web site Wednesday that "we must leave this world behind, or we would spiritually die as the wicked are spiritually dead."
"I cannot live here, and will not live here just the moment my Father gives me release," he wrote. "The earth is hell, and nothing like the light of my Father's bright domain."
The posting by the leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church has not gone unnoticed by law enforcement.
"It's obviously a concern when somebody hints at assisted suicide," State Police spokesman Peter Olson said. "At this moment, though, we don't have much more evidence than a rambling post on a Web site."
In 2002, State Police and the FBI investigated rumors of a mass suicide at the group's Strong City compound, located near Des Moines in rural Union County. Nothing came out of the investigation and Bent's son, Jeff Bent, told the Journal in a recent interview that such an event was never planned.
Wayne Bent replied to an e-mail request by the Journal for clarification of his post by saying, "from your world, it would surely be a good question."
He then referred to a KRQE-TV Web site link in which he told the television station by e-mail that "we have been accused of planning suicide. But this would never be an option for us, for suicide is the coward's way off of the earth."
Bent was arrested at the compound May 6 by State Police on allegations that he had inappropriate sexual contact with three girls, one of whom would have been 12 at the time of the act.
Bent faces two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Source: Albuquerque Journal
This article was found at:
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cops_worry_about_web_posting/

Son: Arrest of Cult Dad Like Betrayal of Jesus

ABC News - May 12, 2008

Cult Leader Took Daughter-in-Law as One of His Seven Wives
By KATIE BOSLAND
DES MOINES, New Mexico
The son of a cult leader who calls himself the messiah said the criminal complaint filed by a one-time follower charging him with sexual abuse of a minor is just like the betrayal of Jesus by a disciple.
And the cult leader, Wayne Bent, has noted on the group's Web site that he spent "three days and three nights" in jail, comparing it to the three days and three nights that Jesus was buried before the New Testament claims he rose from the dead.
Bent, who got out of jail on bond over the weekend, has returned to the cult's Strong City compound in a remote corner of New Mexico near the Colorado border. He has declined interviews.
Bent's son, Jeff, told ABC News that his father was innocent of charges that he had sexual contact with a minor and contributed to the delinquency of a minor. The charges prompted authorities to remove three teenagers from the compound.
Jeff Bent said his father did lay down naked with minor children, but said "he's never had sexual contact with minors at all, ever, he's been very careful to protect and respect people he's been with and who he's touched and healed."
He compared the practice of lying naked with teenagers as "something akin to a parent holding a child," and said it was something his father was ordered to do by God.
"This wasn't his natural desire to be involved in any of this. This was what God had him do," Jeff Bent said.
The son said what is happening to his father, who goes by the name Michael Travesser, is what happened to Jesus.
"These circumstances are the same as when the ministry of Jesus ended, Jesus was betrayed by a former disciple," he told ABC News.
"Jesus was betrayed by a former disciple. He was arraigned on false charges, he was buried. He was crucified and buried. And the district attorney has his own purpose to bury my dad. He wants to make a name for himself by burying a cult leader so he can be elected," Jeff Bent said.
While Wayne Bent has refused interviews, he posted a message on the group's Web site, StrongCity.info, after getting out of jail on Saturday.
"When the Father told me that I was His Messiah, I did not know the fullness, or even partially, what that would mean. But I got a taste of it in the Clayton Jail. I was in the jail three days and three nights. I was in the heart of the earth for the time that Jesus was," Wayne Bent wrote.
Jeff Bent also said that God ordered his father to take his daughter-in-law as his wife. Since Jeff believes his father to be the Messiah, this was a sacrifice he felt he had to make for God.
His father has seven spiritual wives "that were literally, physically consummated&[fulfilling] the prophecy in Isaiah four that said seven woman will take hold of one man in that day," Jeff Bent said.
"My wife and I separated and dissolved our marriage in 2006, and she became one of the seven after that time," Jeff Bent said.
Bent and his followers are members of the Lord of Our Righteousness Church, founded in 1987 by Wayne Bent. Jeff Bent told ABC News that there are around 50 members living at the Strong City compound.
This article was found at:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/
story?id=4837938&page=1

Sex Charges for Leader of Doomsday Sect

ABC News - May 6, 2008

Self-Described Messiah Arrested After State Removed Three Teens From N.M. Compound
By DAVID SCHOETZ

A self-described Messiah was arrested on sex charges involving minors two weeks after state officials took three teenagers from his New Mexico compound amid allegations of sexual abuse, authorities in New Mexico confirmed to ABC News today.
"State police and criminal agents are interviewing Wayne Bent right now," Peter Olsen told ABC News.
Olsen had few details beyond Bent's initial arrest, which happened without incident sometime this morning at Strong City, Bent's compound in New Mexico's rural northeastern corner.
Chief Scott Julian of the Clayton Police Department confirmed that Bent was charged with three counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is being held at the Clayton-Union County Consolidated Detention Facility, Strong confirmed to ABC News.
Bent, who in his writings also goes by the name of Michael Travesser, is leader of a doomsday sect called Lord of Our Righteousness Church.
Three teens, a 16-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl, were taken into custody by state officials during a three-day period starting April 22.
Romaine Serna, a spokeswoman for the state's Children, Youth and Families Department, told ABC News last week that the state is looking into the best options for the children. Serna declined to comment on today's arrest, citing a judge's gag order in the case.
Child welfare officials were working with the district attorney in Union County, N.M. "We're conducting a thorough assessment," Serna said at the time. "We did receive information alleging inappropriate contact with minors on the compound."
Serna would not say who provided her department with the tip, but said it came from a "very reliable source."
By his own admission, sex with his followers is an aspect of Bent's church. He wrote in a Sept. 11, 2007, Web site post that he had sex with three women, including his son's wife, at God's prompting. He also wrote about virgins visiting him in his bed but claims he declined their requests for sex.
Bent's group is featured in the National Geographic program "Inside a Cult," scheduled to air this week. In the program, he acknowledged lying naked with virgin followers and describes nakedness as "another symbol of our relationship to God."
Prudence Welch spent 15 years as a member of Bent's group. She fled in December 2005. She said that she did not believe Bent had sex with virgins but that he did exert mental abuse and he did take the wives of other men as his own. "Pretty much all marriages were somewhat on hold," Welch told "Good Morning America" last week.
John Sayer, another former Bent follower, told The Associated Press that Bent "was supposed to sleep" with his two teen daughters. He took his family and left, but one of the girls returned on her own and is among the three teens taken into custody last week, he said.
The recent string of visits by authorities is not the first time that law enforcement has descended on Strong City. The FBI, state police, local law enforcement and social workers went to the compound in 2002 when rumors circulated that the group was planning a mass suicide. No suicides took place, no arrests were made and no children were taken into custody, according to state police and child protective services.

Bent broke from the Seven Day Adventist church in 1987 to form his Lord of Our Righteousness Church. On the group's Web site, the 66-year-old described being anointed the Messiah by God in 2000, shortly after moving to the New Mexico property.
Bent, who wears a beard and, in some photographs, flowing robes, has not granted interviews but, along with his followers, has used his Web site to criticize efforts by authorities to investigate the sect.
In one post, he referred to the media's "witches brew" in a posting alongside a video showing one of the teens as she is taken into custody.
"There was never any child molestation, or adult molestation by anyone, including myself," he wrote in another post. "There has never been 'sex with minors' or anything remotely approaching that, and I was never the initiator in any of the events."
Bent identified the teens who were taken from the compound and provided what he claimed are writings from them that show their confusion about why the state would take them into custody. "She's very clear about the direction she's going in in her life," a narrator said over video footage of one of the teens being taken away, "much clearer than many adults."
The group claimed that the teenagers taken by the state have family members living among Bent's followers and consent from parents who do not live on the compound.
Jeff Bent, identified as Bent's son, appealed to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in a rambling letter in which he claimed to be a former police officer. "I am incensed at the hypocrisy of your world, that you can accuse us of the very crimes your cult is guilty of," Bent wrote.
The group's Web site features a slew of postings, both written and on video, by church members professing various doctrines tied to the church. An April 10, 2008, posting is titled "The Apocalypse Is Come," and there are many references to an Oct. 31, 2007, doomsday. A recent post points to the crumbling American economy as evidence that the eternal end is near. "Never in earth's history has the prophecy of final things come so clearly."

The case has eerie echoes of last month's police raid of a remote Texas ranch that is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, a polygamist sect. Texas cops took away more than 400 children because they believe the kids were sexually abused or in danger of being sexually abused.
Since the children were admitted to the state's foster care system, Texas officials said about 60 percent of the girls under the age of 17 were either pregnant or already mothers, that many of the children had past evidence of broken bones and that writings in confiscated journals indicated some of the boys had also been sexually abused.
The sect's leaders, who include imprisoned sect "prophet" Warren Jeffs, deny any sexual or physical abuse of their children.
The group broke away from the Mormon church when the church outlawed polygamy. But arranged marriages and pioneer-style, floor-length dresses remain staples of the community.
This article was found at:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=
4796801&page=1

Teens Taken From Cult at Center of New Film

ABC News - May 2, 2008

By JEN PEREIRA, KIRAN KHALID and STEPHANIE DAHLE

Three teenagers were removed from a New Mexico doomsday cult compound after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced. The teens — two girls and a boy — were removed Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between minors and the church leader, Michael Travesser, said state officials.

Prudence Welch, who spent 15 years as a member of the New Mexico cult, fled the compound in 2005. She talked to "GMA" Friday about her time there.

The Lord Our Righteousness Church centers on Travesser, who led his acolytes to Strong City, N.M. seven years ago and declared himself the son of God and the sect's messiah, according to material posted on the group's Web site.
Travesser has acknowledged that naked, underage virgins had laid with him on his bed, according to the group's Web site.
Romaine Serna, a spokeswoman for the state's Children, Youth and Families Department, said that the state took three children into custody.
"We did receive information alleging inappropriate contact with minors on the compound," Serna confirmed to ABC News. Serna would not say who provided her department with the tip, but said it came from a "very reliable source."
Though he admitted in a new National Geographic documentary to lying naked with minors — to bring them closer to God — Travesser denies having sex with them.
"Nakedness is another symbol of our relationship with God. We are naked and unashamed," Travesser told National Geographic in a film that airs next week. "I treated them with the same deference as if I was a physician, an M.D. who was doing surgery."
"Esther," a cult member, described her interaction with Travesser.
"He took me to bed and laid me down and somehow it was like all of heaven was open to me, somehow I started to see God, after all he is the son of God," she told National Geographic.
In 2000, shortly after moving to the New Mexico property in the state's northeastern corner, Travesser, 66, began claiming that he was annointed by God as the group's divine leader, according to the group's Web site.
"God said to me, 'You are messiah,' certainly by no instruction from me," Travesser told National Geographic. "Two witnesses, these two left their homes, left their families and it wasn't at my instruction or behest."
The group began in California after Travesser broke from the Seven Day Adventist church in 1987 to form his Lord of Our Righteousness Church. Reports have put the number of church members between 50-60 people.
Serna said that the state is looking into the best options for the children. "From a child protective standpoint, our concern is the parental role where the parents, either by neglect or active participation, abandoned or neglected a child," she told ABC News.
It's not the first time police have been to Strong City. The FBI, state police, local law enforcement and social workers went to the compound in 2002 when rumors circulated that the group was planning a mass suicide. No suicides took place, no arrests were made, and no children were taken into custody, according to state police and child protective services.
In the current case, Serna said, concern is focused more on the parents of the teens taken into custody than the group's leader.
Prudence Welch spent 15 years as a member of the cult. In December 2005, she fled the cult and its compound in Strong City, New Mexico with her then-husband Jim.
Welch told ABC news that while she "somehow believes" Travesser did not have sex with the virgins, the mental abuse exerted by Travesser is intense.
"One day, you can have cakes and cookies. The next day, it's a sin. One day you can talk to your relatives. The next day, you can't," Welch said, calling the compound a "mental gymnasium."
Welch recalled the beginning of Travesser's claims that he was the group's messiah. Travesser got rid of the other ministers in the church, divorced his wife and started implementing new teachings.
"He started to take other men's wives as his own and other odd behaviors," she said. "Pretty much all marriages were somewhat on hold or dissolved." Travesser took two female witnesses and started laying with the seven virgins a few years later, according to Welch.
Welch now lives in Washington state with her children, but other family members including her mother still live in the compound.
In 2007, Travesser proclaimed the world would end at midnight on Halloween. With glee, his followers prepared for an end that never came.
"He's gained their trust, so what he says is the truth. It doesn't matter if it matches the Bible or anything else," Welch explained. "You just take what he says and swallow it and smile."

Another cult member, "Heal," said her mother thought she had been brainwashed.
"My mom, she told me one time that she thought I was brainwashed and I thought yeah, I am brainwashed, Michael has washed my brain of all my corrupt thoughts," she laughed.
Travesser has not been charged with a crime and lashed out angrily Wednesday on the group's Web site, calling the state's removal of the children a "kidnapping."
"No sex acts with teenagers have ever happened here, but the satanic forces of the media continue to concoct their witches brew in order to destroy the message that was sent to you from heaven," according to a posting on site apparently made by Travesser. This also included video shot by church members showing the first of the teens taken from the compound by officials.
"There was never any child molestation, or adult molestation by anyone, including myself," the posting continued. "There has never been 'sex with minors' or anything remotely approaching that, and, I was never the initiator in any of the events."
The posting identified the teens who were taken from the compound and provided what purports to be writings from them that show their confusion over why the state would take them into custody. "She's very clear about the direction she's going in in her life," a narrator says over video footage of one of the teens being taken away, "much clearer than many adults."
The group claims that the teenagers taken by the state have family members living among Travesser's followers and consent from parents who do not live on the compound.
"Even so, there have been no national laws broken here in this land, even if the laws are manmade and concocted for the slavery of children," Travesser wrote in one post. "Instead of marriage, the world now must watch their children have sex in the back seats of cars, and behind the garage, and they must submit to a million abortions every year."
The group's Web site also features a slew of anonymous postings, both written and video, by church members professing various doctrines tied to the church. An April 10, 2008 posting is entitled "The Apocalypse Is Come," and there are many references to the Oct. 31, 2007 doomsday. A recent post points to the crumbling American economy as evidence that the eternal end is near. "Never in earth's history has the prophecy of final things come so clearly."
In the meantime, the three teens, a 16-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl, are being kept away from the compound. Child welfare officials will work with the district attorney in Union County, N.M., as the criminal investigation continues. "We're conducting a thorough assessment," Serna told ABC News.
Learn more about the Lord of Righteousness church from National Geographic's documentary "Inside a Cult." The film premieres on May 7, 2008, on the National Geographic Channel.
This article was found at:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/
story?id=4772268&page=1

Former follower: Sect leader wanted to sleep with daughters

Las Cruces Sun-News
May 2, 2008

By DEBORAH BAKER Associated Press Writer
CLAYTON, N.M.—For 16 years, he followed the man who calls himself Michael, finally settling along with other families on a former ranch in a remote corner of New Mexico.
There were "red flags" along the way, but John Sayer said he finally parted ways with the apocalyptic church in late 2005.
Michael "said God told him that he was supposed to sleep with seven virgins," recalled Sayer, 36. Two were to be Sayer's daughters, then ages 14 and 15.
"I just told him no. ... I'm not in agreement. I don't see it's right," Sayer said.
Sayer, his wife and daughters left the compound, although his daughters returned. His youngest was still living there last week when she was removed by the state Children, Youth and Families Department, Sayer said.
Two girls and one boy, all under age 18, were taken from the community because of allegations of inappropriate contact between minors and the sect's leader. State officials are investigating. Sayer said he's spoken with his daughter by phone, but has been advised not to discuss the state custody case.
Sayer said Michael Travesser—real name Wayne Bent, 66—did sleep with seven virgins, but all were over 18 and did not include his daughters.

However, Sayer said his daughters "lay naked" with Michael although they said there was no sex involved. He said he doubts his daughters were molested, but that "anything's possible."
Bent, who said God anointed him Messiah in July 2000, wrote in a Web site posting Wednesday that "there was never any child molestation, or adult molestation by anyone, including myself. There has never been 'sex with minors' or anything remotely approaching that."
District Attorney Donald Gallegos of Taos, whose jurisdiction includes the area, said Thursday authorities received a tip.
"I believe it was one of the parents—who no longer are at the compound—had a concern that led to the investigation by the department, which later involved the removal of the children," he said.
Sayer's younger daughter —— under the name "Healed"—has a posting on the church's Web site dated December 2007 in which she wrote, "Michael DID NOT molest me, and my laying with him was not sexual in any way, either."
"Michael sacrificed himself and was willing to look like a pedophile so that I might be bonded inseparably to the Father in Heaven," she also wrote.
Bent's Lord Our Righteousness Church settled in 2000 in northeastern New Mexico close to the Colorado border, where flatter ranch land gives way to tree-studded rock outcroppings. Families in the compound live in recreational vehicles, tents and modular buildings scattered across the property.
On Thursday, handwritten "No Trespassing" signs marked the gates to the property, and there were few signs of life. An occasional vehicle kicked up dust on the compound's roads. A lone figure could be seen hiking a hillside in the distance, and a man walking across the property waved at reporters trying to get his attention.
Bent has declined interviews.
Residents of Clayton say the bearded men and the women in long denim skirts had a mellow relationship with the town. They would come to town to pick up food—fruits and vegetables, particularly—from the Ranch Market, the closest big grocery store.
"They've been very nice. ... Overall, they've been very easy neighbors," said Brian Moore, a state lawmaker who owns the market and has dealt with members of church since they arrived in the area.
Janet Brawley, the market's assistant manager, said some of the compound's members worked outside jobs, with the men doing remodeling or construction jobs and the women doing housework.
"One lady told me they're not allowed to put what they believe on other people," Brawley said. "I've never heard of them trying to convert anyone."
Church members were familiar to residents of Des Moines, a village of 150 about 30 miles southwest of the compound.
"They painted here and put on the roof," said Martha Meyer, who works in K and B Oil, a small convenience store and gas station.
"I think they just mostly did odd jobs. The kids worked out on the ranches and stuff," Meyer said.
Sayer, who worked as a carpenter, said life at the compound sometimes called Strong City was hard, although he recalls some happy times.
"There was a lot of going out and walking and being alone," he said. There were no TVs—although there were computers. Jewelry and makeup were banned, as was meat.
Raised a Seventh-day Adventist and drawn to Bent's offshoot church when his parents became involved, Sayer said at first it was "normal in my eyes."
"Basically, whatever the Seventh-day Adventists taught, that's what we did," he said. But he said Bent, whom he described as quiet, nice and smart, got weirder around 1999.
"He was claiming to be God," Sayer said.
Sayer—whose mother and sister live at the compound—believes the three children seized by the state were the only minors there. He said Bent told families with small children to leave in 2005 because some youngsters were disobedient—playing with toys, for example, which was not allowed.
He said the community, which numbered close to 80 people when it moved to New Mexico from Sand Point, Idaho, is down to about 50.
"They're in a strong city," he said. "They're in their own heaven on earth. They say they're on the sea of glass. Their lives are transparent. ... They do what the Father wants them to do."
Sayer said Bent has told him God talks to everybody at the ranch. "I can't judge it," Sayer said. "Every person's got their own relationship with God."
This article was found at:
http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_9114625

Children removed from Union County cult

KOB TV - New Mexico
April 30, 2008

Wayne Bent, known to his followers as Michael Travesser

The head of a cult based in northeastern New Mexico has gone on a hunger strike and issued a threat to Governor Bill Richardson after four children were removed from the cult's compound by state officials.
Romaine Serna of the Children Youth and Families says two girls and one boy were removed from Strong City, the Union County headquarters of The Lord Our Righteousness Church, following allegations that they may have been subject to inappropriate contact.
Serna says a fourth child, a girl, who had been at the compound but now lives elsewhere agreed to be interviewed by the department. Serna says there are no other children at the compound.
Cult leader Wayne C. Bent, who is known to his membership as Michael Travesser, posted a message to the cult's Web site saying that he hadn't eaten since the children's removal on April 22.
Bent also posted a letter to Richardson noting that because the state has "moved against us because of our faith… He is free to move against you."
The Journal reports that state and federal law enforcement officials visited Strong City in 2002 to investigate allegations that members were planning a mass suicide.
Peter Olson of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety says that "there's been a long history" of state police involvement with the group.
According the Journal, Bent had predicted the end of the world last October 31 and says that he is the second coming of Jesus.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This article was found at:
http://kob.com/article/stories/
S429065.shtml?cat=500

Hearing whispers of immorality

The Scotsman - December 13, 2007

By PAUL WHITELAW


WOODY Allen once wrote a short story in which the protagonist's soul left his body to paint the town red on its own. After sitting around at home for hours: "I knew that my soul had returned to me when I heard a voice say, 'Do you wanna pass me those raisins?'" I was reminded of this while watching **The End Of The World Cult in which a former sailor named Wayne Bent described the moment that God first spoke to him. He was idling in an armchair one afternoon when, he says: "God said to me, 'You are Messiah.' And I accepted." Well it would be rude not to.

Like all self-proclaimed Messiahs it's easy to dismiss Bent as a nut, because he is. But what is it that pushes these people to the point where they're not content to merely follow God's word, but actually proclaim themselves as His son? Simple: the chicks. It's the same old story: some opportunistic schlub convinces a bunch of easily manipulated souls to follow his word, they shack up together in the desert, and he's allowed to have sex with whichever woman he desires. Really, the lengths some guys will go to.

However, I do believe that Bent - who renamed himself Michael Trevesser - actually did believe he was the second coming, or at least that he'd managed to successfully delude himself in order to justify his behaviour. With his wooly beard and gentle manner he certainly looked the part. Unfortunately, it was the part of The Muppets' creator Jim Henson. Bent lived on a commune named Strong City in a remote corner of New Mexico with around 60 followers. He believed that the world would end on 31 October 2007, something he and his brethren anticipated with rapturous delight.

In order to prepare for this momentous event, God told Bent to gather seven virgins, one of whom was just 15. Director Ben Anthony - who gained unprecedented access to Strong City - filmed two girls happily recounting the moment when God told them to "stand naked" in front of Bent. How did this thought get into their heads? Perhaps it had something to do with the post Bent wrote which encouraged women to stand naked before Him. Bent claimed that it wasn't sexual. He did, however, admit to having sex with his son's wife. "God came down on Michael and forced him to consummate with Christiana," said the grandson of God calmly. "It was a terrible, strange act of God." It was a bit, yeah.

Inadvertent amusement aside, there was something terribly angering about all of this: Bent had systematically broken the spirits of vulnerable people to the point where they believed that the outside world was evil and that death was salvation. When Judgment Day came and went without any fanfare, Bent wouldn't grant Anthony a further interview. It wasn't surprising: false deities seldom have answers.



http://living.scotsman.com/
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