FILIPINO PASTOR ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ABUSING MINORS ARRESTED

PEOPLE

 

'Most Wanted' Pastor Accused of Sexually Abusing Minors Under Threat of 'Eternal Damnation' Is Arrested

By Sean Neumann  Published on September 10, 2024 03:43PM EDT

 

A well-known pastor in the Philippines was arrested on Sunday following a weeks-long standoff, and now the FBI is hoping to extradite him to the United States where he would face the possibility of life in prison stemming from allegations of sex trafficking and child abuse.

 

Apollo Carreon Quiboloy was arrested Sunday in the Philippines, according to NPR, CNN and CBS News.

 

Quiboloy, 74, is the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church and reportedly has a long relationship with former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, dating back to when Duterte was the mayor of Davao City, where Quiboloy’s church is based.

 

"No one is above the law,” the country's interior secretary Benjamin Abalos wrote in a statement on Facebook, sharing Quiboloy’s mugshot.

 

NPR likened the standoff between authorities and Quiboloy and his followers to that of the U.S. government’s standoff with the Branch Davidian group in Waco, Texas in 1993.

 

The standoff with Quiboloy began on Aug. 24, and at points saw Quiboloy’s followers place themselves outside his church as human barricades in an effort to stop roughly two thousand police officers who surrounded the church grounds in Davao City, according to CNN.

 

Quiboloy, who is allegedly known to his followers as "The Appointed Son of God," is accused of using his church to run a sex trafficking operation that coerced young women, including minors, into performing sexual acts for him by threatening them with “eternal damnation” if they didn’t comply, according to a 2021 indictment against him, which was obtained by PEOPLE.

 

The pastor, who broadcast his church proceedings throughout the Philippines, has also been on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list since federal authorities in the U.S. issued a warrant for his arrest in November 2021.

 

The FBI has accused Quiboloy of participating in labor trafficking, accusing the pastor of sending followers to the U.S. “via fraudulently obtained visas” and forcing them “to solicit donations for a bogus charity,” donations the FBI says were actually “used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders," according to his Most Wanted poster.

 

The FBI also accuses Quiboloy and his church of recruiting women “to work as personal assistants,” called “pastorals,” to serve the pastor, according to the poster. The FBI alleges the women were given shifts called “night duty” in which “victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy.”

 

According to the indictment, the women recruited to be "pastorals" ranged from 12 to 25 years old. The women were also reportedly forced to write “commitment letters” in which they pledged their lives to Quiboloy as “The Appointed Son of God,” according to the indictment.

 

Quiboloy was officially indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Nov. 2021 for “conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling,” the FBI says.

 

According to NPR, Quiboloy could face life in prison if brought to the U.S. to face the federal charges against him. First, Quiboloy is set to face charges locally in Davao City, according to the outlet.

 

It's not immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney.

 

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.