Minister of sect goes on the run 'after handpicking 10 underage "maidens" and sexually abusing them in an isolated camp for nearly a decade'

Police are seeking Victor A. Barnard who faces 59 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving 2 of his alleged victims

He 'picked 10 girls aged between 12 and 24 to live with him at his home at the River Road Fellowship in Minnesota'

He told the girls it was God's word for them to have sex with him - and when he told their parents he was having sex with them, they did nothing



He faces charges after 2 women who escaped the sect came forward

But he has so far eluded authorities and they believe other sect members are hiding him in Washington state



A minister of a sect who claimed he was 'Christ in the flesh' handpicked 10 young girls and forced them to have sex with him for nearly a decade, two of his alleged victims have said.

Victor A. Barnard, 52, is on the run after authorities in Pine County, Minnesota announced that he faces 59 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving the two women - although he could face more if other alleged victims come forward.



A nationwide warrant was issued on April 11 but authorities believe followers of his sect, the River Road Fellowship, may be hiding him in Washington state.

After enduring years of abuse, Lindsey Tornambe escaped the group of 140 followers and alerted authorities to the girls' plight. Another former cult-member, Jess Schweiss, told authorities her story.

Scroll down for video

'Brainwashed': Young women gather around Victor A. Barnard, the leader of an alleged cult who is wanted for allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulting the girls, whom he called his 'Maidens'

The women say they were just 12 and 13 when, with their parents permission, they went to live with Barnard as part of a group of 10 women known as the Maidens, Fox9 reported.

The Maidens, aged between 12 and 24, were first-born daughters handed over to Bernard and forced to have sex with him anywhere between once and five times a month over a decade.

He said that Jesus and King Solomon had many women followers, so 'God's word' meant that it was normal for him to have sex with them.



'I still had a conscience, I knew it was wrong,' Schweiss, who marked every sexual encounter with Barnard with an 'x' on a calendar, told Fox.

Her father told authorities that he 'felt pressured to not say anything' about the sexual activity, according to the criminal complaint.

Brave: Lindsey Tornambe said her parents took her to Barnard's home when she was 13 and she was left there for nearly a decade. She contacted authorities in 2012 about the abuse Lost childhood: Jess Schweiss said she was just 12 when she was picked by Barnard to be one of his Maidens Former lives: The girls, pictured when they were part of the group, said there were 10 Maidens

Schweiss has now cut her parents out of her life.



' I don't look at them as my parents anymore,' she said. 'They weren't the parents I wanted or needed. My parents, the people I grew up with as a child, don't exist anymore.'

Speaking with the Star Tribune, Tornambe said she still remembers sitting in the congregation with her parents in 2000 when she was called by Bernard to a 'position of honor'.

After her parents dutifully left her at his ranch, she said Bernard began talking to her about sex and grew angry when she said she did not understand the terms he was using.

He had sex with her anyway and urged her not to tell anyone, she said. She added that her parents rarely came to visit, even though they lived just five miles away.

Claims: Barnard told the women they should have sex with him because it was consistent with God's word

On the run: Police have a nationwide warrant out for his arrest but believe cult members are hiding him

Shunned: Weiss said that her parents, pictured, dismissed her claims that she had been sexually assaulted

She left his cabin when she was 15 but after her parents berated her with their disappointment and Bernard spoke to her about damnation, she reluctantly returned.



'I was really scared, and I didn’t know what receiving damnation from God would be like,' she said. 'I ended up just staying.'

But a few years later, she left permanently and went to live with her parents, who had moved to Pennsylvania. They still placed Bernard's photographs around their home.

When she told her parents about the abuse, her mother 'did not want to hear it', the criminal complaint notes.



Tornambe eventually became a nanny, but when she heard cousins happily talking about their lives at a New Year's party in 2012, she realized Bernard had robbed her of hers and she called police.

Scene: The River Road Fellowship had land in Minnesota before the claims surfaced and they fled west

Likewise, Schweiss split from the group and moved to Wisconsin in September 2009, but she said she attempted suicide in 2011. When her brother confronted her, she told him about the abuse.

'I feel bad in one sense that I am taking Victor's life away from him by putting him behind bars, but then again, he took my life away from me, which I should have had,' she said. 'So, I feel that - for lack of better words - I think I'm even.'

Tornambe adeed: 'I definitely don't want Victor hurting anyone else.'

Pine County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Blackwell said that the 59 counts only relate to the claims by the two women and that authorities are hopeful more will come forward.

When asked if he believed there were more, he said: 'I don’t know how we couldn't think that.'

See below for video