Roch Theriault

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Roch "Moses" Theriault was the charismatic leader of a small cult based near St. Jogues, Quebec, in Canada. Between 1977 and 1989, he held sway over as many as 12 adults and 26 children. He used all of the nine women as concubines, and probably fathered most of the children in the group. He was arrested for assault in 1989, and convicted of murder in 1993. He is serving a life sentence and was denied parole in 2002. Along with Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo, Theriault is one of Canada's most notorious criminals.

During his reign, Theriault mutilated several cult members. He once used a meat cleaver to chop off the hand and part of the arm of Gabrielle Lavalée, one of his concubines. He also removed 8 of her teeth. Theriault castrated a 2-year-old boy, as well as two adult men. His major crime was to kill Solange Boilard, another of his concubines, by disembowelment.^[1]

The cult was based primarily on Old Testament themes, such as women's obedience to men, polygamy, harsh punishments, the righteousness of the leader and the sinfulness of the followers, and living miracles. Theriault was called "father" and re-christened all members with biblical names. He also claimed to be a reincarnation of the prophet Moses, and demanded the respect appropriate for such a figure. Based on the testimony of former cult members, Theriault was probably delusional and may have actually believed he could do miracles. In particular, he once tried to resurrect a woman he had killed by sawing the top off her corpse's skull and masturbating into the cavity. Theriault was originally a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, although he was thrown out of the church when he claimed to be a prophet and demanded to be made their leader. He was also thrown out of a Catholic social group under similar circumstances.

Theriault was charming to young women and was a good speaker. He was able to persuade his followers to sell their belongings, sever ties with their families, and move to a commune near Burnt River on the property of Malcom Dudman, who later assisted police in his capture and arrest, about 100 km northeast of Toronto. He convinced the women that all of them were his wives, and that they should bear him children. Even while he was in prison, three of his wives continued conjugal visits and bore him more children.

Theriault's life was subject of the 2002 television movie Savage Messiah.^[2]

One of his former followers, Gabrielle Lavalée, wrote an autobiographic book, L'alliance de la brebis ("Alliance of Sheep"), about the sect.