Christian group leader charged with 59 counts of sexual misconduct

Pine County authorities have charged a man who led a Christian group based near Finlayson, Minn., for more than 12 years with 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct with two underage girls whose families were part of the ministry.

Victor Arden Barnard, 52, is charged with having sexual contact with the girls between 2000 and 2009, starting with one girl when she was only 12. Barnard was a leader of the "River Road Fellowship," an offshoot of The Way International, according to the criminal charges. Neither group could be reached for comment.

Pine County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Steven Blackwell said the compound operated by the ministry was secluded.

They "had a group of followers at one point of just under 50 people, mostly families that were with them," Blackwell said. "They were isolated, grew their own food, they processed their own meat, they pretty much stayed to themselves for many years out here until this investigation came to light."

Blackwell said there were some concerns in the community about the group's activities but nothing that approached a criminal investigation until three years ago, when two women told police Barnard had abused them as girls. The group moved away shortly after the police investigation began.

Blackwell said there very well could be more victims, although no others have come forward yet.

"There's no reason to believe that if he did it to two of them, that he wouldn't try it to others," Blackwell said. "All of those would be adults now, so of course they would need to come forward."

There is a warrant out for Barnard's arrest, and law enforcement officials believe he's in Washington state, although members of the fellowship there have not cooperated with police. Washington state law enforcement authorities are aggressively searching for him.

"He's going house to house with certain followers and supporters, and we don't feel that anyone is going to tip us off to him," Blackwell said. "We're pretty confident they'll end up catching up to him there pretty soon."

A spokesperson for the Spokane Sheriff's Department said Barnard is not yet in custody.

Girls lived in "Shepherd's Camp," charges say

According to the criminal complaint, under Bernard's leadership led the River Road Fellowship, moved into a compound near Finlayson about 16 years ago.

At least nine young girls and women lived apart from their families at the compound in a section they called "Shepherd's Camp." Barnard started to refer to the girls as the Maidens or the Alamoth. He preached sermons about how they would remain unmarried and instead give themselves to God.

He told the two girls he is accused of abusing, now adults, that it was their duty to have sex with him because he was a man of God.

"Barnard repeatedly preached to her that he represented Christ in the flesh, that Jesus Christ had Mary Magdalene and other women who followed him, that King Solomon had lots of concubines that he had sex with, that the firstborn child was to be sacrificed to God, and that it was normal for Barnard to have sex with her because it was in God's Word," according to the criminal complaint.

The two women told investigators that Barnard told them not to tell anyone he was having sex with them.

But Barnard later told each girl's family, both part of the group, that he was going to have sex with the girls.

One of the girls' fathers told investigators that he felt pressured not to say anything against Barnard even though he now knows that Barnard had sex with his daughter when she was a child: "[H]e said he did not know what he was thinking at the time but just remembers always feeling so much pressure to not become an outcast and lose everything he had."

Both women told investigators that Barnard hit them. One was later made to participate in a ceremony that Barnard called the "Salt Covenant," where she was to promise to remain virginal and loyal to Barnard for their entire lives.

In 2000, there were nine girls and women living at the compound away from their families, ranging in age from 12-24. Neither girl who has come forward told the other "maidens" that Barnard was having sex with them. But both told investigators that the other girls seemed to have similar experiences with Barnard. There was a calendar in the kitchen that listed the time each girl was scheduled to spend with Barnard.

One of the victims "would see them called to spend time with him the same way she would. She would also see all the females act very intimately with Barnard when they were in groups, lying down with him and putting their hands on his chest or hair," according to the criminal complaint.

The congregation splintered in 2009 after Barnard admitted to having sex with married women in the group, with Barnard and others moving to Spokane County in Washington.

Pine County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Nelson flew to Washington state in September 2012 to try to interview Barnard. Members of the congregation told Nelson that they did not know his whereabouts or refused to talk to investigators.