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‘Cursed’ woman claims exorcism sex abuse

Summarized by Religion News Blog, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sep. 12, 2008 News Summary
www.religionnewsblog.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Friday September 12, 2008

‘Cursed’ woman claims exorcism sex abuse

SYDNEY – Two men have been charged with more than 220 sex offences at prayer sessions of a western Sydney church.
Police say one of the men had claimed he could speak to angels and remove curses.
The men, aged 61 and 38, are highly regarded members of the Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox communities, police say.
They are alleged to have committed the offences over a period of four years on a young woman who believed she was cursed.
Police allege the older man claimed to be a spiritual mentor who was able to speak to angels to remove curses and banish evil spirits.
They allege the victim believed she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community practising black magic and that they would all suffer terrible consequences including death and illness unless the curse was removed.
The woman told police she attended many prayer sessions at various hotels between 2001 and 2005 where she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted.
It’s alleged she paid the men between $500 and $1,000 for each prayer session and by 2005 had paid at least $70,000.
Fairfield Local Area Commander, Acting Superintendent Gary Bailey, said police could not rule out the possibility there had been other victims.
“Two extremely courageous women have already come forward with information which has led to the arrests of these two men,” Supt Bailey said.

- Source: ‘Cursed’ woman claims exorcism sex abuse, AAP via the Brisbane Times (Australia), Sep. 12, 2008 — Summarized by Religion News Blog