Fugitive American sect leader arrested in Brazil …

MINNESOTA
Daily Mail

Fugitive American sect leader arrested in Brazil over allegations he sexually abused two girls at his Minnesota camp over a period of ten years

By Myriah Towner For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

A self-professed minister and one of America’s Most Wanted for allegedly molesting two girls in a ‘Maidens Group’ has been arrested following a year-long search, according to Brazilian authorities.

Victor Arden Barnard, 53, was captured late Friday in an apartment near paradisiacal white-sand Pipa Beach in northeastern Brazil, along with a 33-year-old Brazilian woman, who he was reportedly living with.

Authorities were eventually able to determine that Barnard was living in Brazil and coordinated efforts with Brazilian police to arrest him, according to CBS Minnesota.

He faces 59 counts of criminal misconduct after two women said they were among ten girls and women, who were chosen to live apart from their families and with him at his River Road Fellowship camp in rural Minnesota.

One woman alleged Barnard sexually abused her beginning at age 13 and continued until she was 22, while the other said her abuse occurred between the ages 12 and 20.

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