US federal prosecutors have filed sex and children trafficking charges against President Duterte’s long-time friend and spiritual adviser Pastor Quiboloy for coercing girls as young as 12 years old into having sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation.”
Also charged were two of his top administration church officials from the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC).
In a news statement, the US Justice Department this is “a superseding indictment” which expanded the human trafficking allegations earlier made against other leaders of Davao-based church group.
Aside from Quiboloy, also charged with sex and children trafficking are Teresita Danda, the international administrator of KOJC operations, and Felina Salinas.
Salinas and another defendant in the human trafficking charges, Bettina Roces, were arrested today (Thursday US time) by US federal authorities.
According to US DOJ, five girls and young women ranging from 12 to 25 years old were recruited as personal assistants or ‘pastorals’ for Quiboloy. Part of their task as pastorals was to “have sex with Quiboloy” as part of their “night duty.”
“Defendant Quiboloy and other KOJC administrators coerced pastorals into performing ‘night duty’ – that is, sex – with defendant Quiboloy under the threat of physical and verbal abuse and eternal damnation by defendant Quiboloy and other KOJC administrators,” the indictment alleges. “Defendant Quiboloy and other KOJC administrators told pastorals that performing ‘night duty’ was ‘God’s will’ and a privilege, as well as a necessary demonstration of the pastoral’s commitment to give her body to defendant Quiboloy as ‘The Appointed Son of God,’” the indictment reads.
The victims — three of them were minors when the alleged sex trafficking began — were ordered to have sex with Quiboloy “on a schedule determined by the church leader and others, including Dandan”
“The victims who were obedient were rewarded with ‘good food, luxurious hotel rooms, trips to tourist spots, and yearly cash payments that were based on performance’ – which were paid for with money solicited by KOJC workers in the United States,” the US DOJ said quoting the indictment.
Those who refused to provide sexual servitude were allegedly told “that they had the devil in them and risked eternal damnation.”
“Quiboloy would threaten and physically abuse victims who attempted to leave KOJC or were not available to perform night duty.
“Quiboloy would physically abuse victims for communicating with other men or engaging in other behavior that upset him because he considered such conduct adultery and a sin,” the statement added.
Aside from that, pastorals were also required to prepare meals for Quiboloy, clean his residences, gave him massages.
Victims told US prosecutors that this happened no later than 2002 and continued to at least 2018.
The superseding indictment charges against Quiboloy, Danda and Salinas were participating in a conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, as well as the sex trafficking of children.
In the 2020 indictment, nine KOJC officials were charged with labor trafficking of church members that involved obtaining fraudulent visas, forcing solicitation of donations to bogus charity that were actually used to finance church operations, and forcing members to enter into sham marriages.
This is the first time that Quiboloy himself, whom members revered to as the “Appointed Son of God,” was included in the indictment.
Quiboloy, other church officials charged with sex, children trafficking in US
Source: News Paper Radio
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