Sect leader extradited to Minnesota to face charges

Published June 18, 2016

A religious sect leader has been extradited from Brazil to face charges that he sexually abused girls in rural Minnesota.

The Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1sM4QDO ) reports 54-year-old Victor Barnard was booked into the Pine County Jail on Saturday afternoon. The jail's online roster lists Barnard as an inmate.

Barnard was arrested in Brazil last year after being on the most-wanted list of the U.S. Marshals Service. He was charged in April 2014 in Pine County with 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sexual relationships with two girls he had inducted into his "Maidens Group" at the River Road Fellowship's secluded compound near Finlayson.

Defense attorney Marsh Halberg said last month that one condition of the Brazilian court was that any potential sentence for Barnard in the U.S. not exceed 30 years.

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com

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