The prosecutors in the US announced Thursday sex-trafficking charges alleging that girls and young women were coerced to have sex with Philippines-based church leader Apollo Quiboloy.
Quiboloy is the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC), and a self-proclaimed ‘son of God.’ He was also a close friend of President Rodrigo Duterte.
A 74-page indictment charges Quiboloy and other church officials, including two US-based church administrators, with running a sex-trafficking operation that threatened victims as young as 12 with “eternal damnation” and physical abuse.
According to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, the new indictment expanded on allegations made last year against three church administrators based in the city. In addition, it charges nine defendants participating in a scheme in which church members were brought to the United States using fraudulently obtained visas and forced to solicit donations to a bogus children’s charity.
Prosecutors said KOJC leaders used the donations to pay for their “lavish lifestyles.”
The latest indictment adds Apollo Quiboloy and five other new defendants to an existing charge filed in 2020. Prosecutors said US authorities arrested three new defendants on Thursday, but three others, including Quiboloy, were believed to be in the Philippines.
Lawyers for the new defendants could not immediately be identified, and the Philippines embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apollo Quiboloy faces sex trafficking charges in the US
The indictment alleges that Quiboloy and two other defendants recruited females aged 12 to 25 as personal assistants, or “pastorals.” It said they were required to prepare Quiboloy’s meals, clean his residences, give him massages and have sex with him during what they called “night duty.”
In July 2020, the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the rape, child abuse, and human trafficking charges against Apollo Quiboloy and five other church members.
A woman who filed the criminal complaints claimed the “The Appointed Son of God” Quiboloy raped her while another church member “paddled” her with a piece of wood. She also said they forced her to do caroling, beg for money, sell food, and solicit money when she was a minor.
The charges were against Quiboloy, Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada, and Sylvia Cemañes. – with reports from Reuters
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