MINNESOTA
The Daily Times
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The leader of an isolated religious sect in Minnesota pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting two teenage girls who were members of his community.
As part of the plea deal, Victor Barnard, 55, agreed to serve 30 years in prison.
Barnard was the longtime leader of the River Road Fellowship near Finlayson, about 90 miles north of Minneapolis.
In 2012, two women came forward and told authorities that Barnard began assaulting them when they were as young as 12 and 13. The women said they were among about 10 girls and young women who were chosen to live in a camp apart from their families as part of Barnard’s “Maidens Group.”
Barnard kept the girls secluded, using religious coercion and intimidation to maintain his control over them, authorities said. He allegedly told one victim she would remain a virgin because he was a “man of God.”
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