A Filipino preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Philippines and similar charges in the US on Sunday surrendered to authorities in his religious complex in the south and was flown to Manila where he was put in police detention, officials said.
Apollo Quiboloy and four other coaccused surrendered in the vast religious headquarters of their group, called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, in Davao after police gave a 24-hour ultimatum for them to give up, police said.
Philippine Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Benhur Abalos earlier said that Quiboloy was caught by authorities.
Photo: AFP
Quiboloy and his coaccused were flown on a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane to the capital on Sunday night and locked up in a heavily guarded detention center at the national police headquarters, where their mugshots and fingerprints were taken, police spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo said at a news conference.
“The Philippine National Police gave an ultimatum for them to surrender, otherwise we would raid a particular building, where we’ve been barred from entering,” Fajardo said, adding that the warning led to their peaceful surrender.
Quiboloy went into hiding earlier this year after a Philippine court ordered his arrest and several others on allegations of child and sexual abuse, and human trafficking, Fajarto said.
The Philippine Senate separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest for refusing to appear in public committee hearings that were looking into criminal allegations against him.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had urged Quiboloy to surrender and assured him of fair treatment by authorities.
The preacher and his lawyer denied the allegations against him, saying they were fabricated by critics and former members who were removed from the religious group.
US federal prosecutors in 2021 announced the indictment of Quiboloy for allegedly having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they catered to the self-proclaimed “son of God.”
Quiboloy and two of his top administrators were among nine people named in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury and unsealed in November 2021.
It contained a raft of charges, including conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.
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