Sao Paulo: Famed Brazilian "spiritual healer" Joao de Deus, was accused of sexually abusing hundreds of women under the pretext of treating them, surrendered to authorities on Sunday, Brazilian media reported.
An arrest warrant was issued on Friday for the 76-year-old medium, whose real name is Joao Teixeira de Faria.
For years, Faria, who is widely known as "John of God", had received thousands of believers including numerous celebrities each week at his temple located in the town of Abadiania in the state of Goias near the capital Brasilia.
A cell-phone video filmed by a journalist and broadcast on the Globo news channel shows a weary-looking, downcast Faria stepping out of a car on an unpaved road before surrendering to waiting police. Subsequently, several television stations broadcast live scenes of his arrival in a police cruiser with tinted windows at police headquarters in Goiania, the capital of Goias.
In the video, Faria is heard saying that when he learned of the accusations against him, "I surrendered to divine justice and, as promised, I now place myself in the hands of earthly justice." His lawyer Alberto Toron told reporters he would seek Faria's release on Monday and hoped he could be assigned to house arrest. Faria has insisted on his innocence.
But on Wednesday, according to O Globo newspaper, he withdrew 35 million reals (USD 8.9 million) from several bank accounts. The suspiciously large withdrawal prompted authorities to issue Friday's arrest warrant to prevent Faria from fleeing the country or hiding the money, news media reported.
The scandal erupted after TV Globo, Brazil's largest television network, broadcast an investigative report on Faria, including testimonies from several women who said he had forced them, during the "healing" seances, to masturbate him or practice fellatio on him. Following the broadcast, hundreds of women came forward with similar complaints.
The prosecutor's office in Goias said it had received 330 complaints from most parts of Brazil, as well as from Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Germany, Switzerland and the US.
Faria's reputation had reached far beyond Brazil. Renowned TV superstar Oprah Winfrey visited him in 2012, and the last three Brazilian presidents had consulted with him.
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