Police stated two of Apollo Quiboloy’s alleged victims have indicated they are going to testify towards him.
A outstanding Philippine preacher who calls himself the “anointed son of God” has pleaded not responsible to fees of kid sexual abuse and human trafficking, his lawyer stated.
Apollo Quiboloy, 74, a detailed ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested on a number of fees final Sunday after a weeks-long search of his sprawling 30-hectare (74-acre) church compound by greater than 2,000 safety brokers within the southern metropolis of Davao.
“He’s harmless,” Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, informed reporters after the arraignment in Manila on Friday. A pre-trial listening to is scheduled for October.
Earlier, Quiboloy and 4 co-defendants arrived in a police minibus about 45 minutes earlier than their scheduled look amid a swarm of journalists.
Handcuffed and carrying an orange arrest shirt, the preacher was nearly unrecognizable beneath a helmet and bulletproof vest.
When requested by a reporter what his message was to his followers, he replied in Filipino: “Keep sturdy, keep sturdy.”
In an announcement launched forward of Friday’s listening to, Joahna Paula Domingo, a lawyer for one of many alleged victims, stated: “We firmly imagine that the reality concerning the alleged prison acts of Apollo C Quiboloy and his co-defendants will lastly be revealed.”
On Friday, Davao Police Chief Col. Hansel Marantan informed radio station DZBB that two of the 5 alleged victims of Quiboloy’s sexual slavery have already determined to testify towards the suspect.
Police spokesman Colonel Jean Fajardo stated the victims have been sexually abused after they have been 12 or 13 years previous. They have been informed to do no matter they have been requested to “serve God” and that sexual favors can be their “passport to heaven.”
Quiboloy is adopted by thousands and thousands of individuals within the Philippines, the place church leaders have nice affect in politics.
A press release from his church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, earlier than the looks stated its “cardinal rule” was that members “will not be compelled to do something towards their will.”
He additionally faces baby abuse fees in one other courtroom.
A U.S. grand jury has individually indicted Quiboloy on fees of conspiracy to have interaction in intercourse trafficking by pressure, fraud and coercion, baby intercourse trafficking, and huge quantities of cash smuggling.
The 2021 U.S. indictment alleges that girls have been recruited as Quiboloy’s private assistants to arrange his meals, clear his residence, give him massages and have sexual relations with him.
President Ferdinand Marcos stated Monday that the federal government just isn’t but contemplating extraditing the pastor to america as a result of “we’re targeted on the circumstances filed within the Philippines.”