List of convicted or indicted religious leaders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of religious leaders or founders who have been convicted or indicted of serious crimes. This list is not limited to living leaders of movements. It is not limited to religions purported to be "cults." Indeed the real or alleged criminality of a religious leader does not necessarily say anything about the nature of the religion.
For a variety of reasons certain restrictions might prove useful. The most obvious being restricting it to crimes committed during or after their period as religious leader. There are cases of ex-convicts founding religions, but if they did not commit their crimes in the period as religious figures it is inaccurate to say they were "convicted or indicted religious leaders." In the cases of early religious leaders there are also issues of documentation, the lack of religious freedom, and the definition of crime that would make their inclusion problematic. Hence it seems wise to limit it to founders or leaders convicted or indicted after 1880. Another limitation is to generally limit it to actual leaders or founders of a religion or religious organization rather than including any well-known criminals in varied clergies.
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[edit] Serious or violent crimes
- Shoko Asahara - Founder of Aum Shinrikyo sentenced to death by hanging under Japanese law for involvement in Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.
- Ervil LeBaron - Convicted serial killer who led a small sect of Polygamous Mormon fundamentalists.
- Maria Devi Christos - Leading figure in Great White Brotherhood for criminal vandalizing a Church and the brawl which followed that act.
- Kenneth Dyers - Co-founder of Kenja Communication. Charged with sexual assault against two 12 year old girls including aggravated sexual assault. Previously charged and convicted of one count of sexual assault against a minor, but later overturned on 2nd appeal.
- Matthew F. Hale - Former leader of Creativity Movement sentenced to a 40-year prison term for soliciting an undercover FBI informant to kill federal judge Joan Lefkow.
- Warren Jeffs - Once President of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he was charged with conspiracy to commit sex crimes and was arrested after being on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for a little over 16 weeks. He has also been featured on America's Most Wanted.
- Jim Jones - Head of Peoples Temple arrested in Los Angeles on December 13, 1973, and charged with soliciting an undercover police officer for sex. Also fled allegations of tax evasion, murder, and the group later committed cult suicide.
- Luc Jouret - A founder of the Order of the Solar Temple. He had been arrested for stockpiling firearms illegally in the center of Quebec before his death linked to cult suicide.
- Jung Myung Seok - Leader of Providence Church, charged with several accounts of rape, as well as fraud, sexual abuse, embezzlement, and violence against followers. Wanted since 2001, was arrested but fled on bail in 2003.
- Meir Kahane - Orthodox Jewish rabbi and founder of Kach and Kahane Chai, imprisoned for plotting the bombing of a mosque.
- William Kamm - Self styled Pope Peter II who was sentenced to five years in prison in October 2005 for a string of sexual attacks on a 15-year-old girl.
- Joseph Kony - Lord's Resistance Army leader, paramilitary and religious group, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
- Alice Lenshina[1] - Head and founder of the Zambian Lumpa Church. Conflicts with the government over their rejection of taxes led to a violent confrontation and her subsequent arrest. The arrests were in least partly political, but the group apparently did use fortifications and have a hostile attitude to the law.
- Jeffrey Lundgren - Headed splinter group from Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, executed October 24, 2006, for multiple murders.
- Charles Manson - Leader of Manson Family who is serving life for first degree murder.
- Monte Kim Miller - Founder of Concerned Christians, arrested by Israeli authorities on charges of plotting to cause a violent incident at the Temple Mount.
- Shukri Mustafa - Leader of Takfir wal-Hijra who was captured and executed for the kidnap murder of a Muslim cleric.
- Fred Phelps - Leader of Westboro Baptist Church, charges for violence are mostly for extortion and assault. Little to no actual jail time.
- Rajneesh - Deceased figure of Osho, ten year suspended term and told not to return to the US.
- Swami Premananda of Tiruvannamalai - Convicted by a court in Tamil Nadu in 1997 and was awarded double life imprisonment for murder and rape.
- Jacques Robidoux - Leader of defunct group The Body of Christ who is serving time for first degree murder.
- Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar - Served time for "abetment to murder", but he was later found innocent.
- Paul Schäfer - Former head of Colonia Dignidad, tried and found guilty in absentia of child molestation and also charged with involvement in the 1976 disappearance of the political activist Juan Maino.
- Roch Theriault - Former head of "Ant Hill Kids commune" serving a life sentence in Canada for the murder of Solange Boislard. Subject of film Savage Messiah.
- Mo Wan-Lun - Head of Green Dragon Temple "Cult" charged with running a prostitution ring and forcing women into prostitution.
- Yahweh Ben Yahweh - Head of Nation of Yahweh for RICO charges and conspiracy to commit murder.
- Dwight York - Head of Nuwaubianism convicted of multiple RICO, child molestation, and financial reporting charges and sentenced to 135 years in prison. His case is currently under appeal in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
[edit] Non-violent crimes
- Tony Alamo - Headed a Santa Clarita commune. Convicted of tax evasion and until recently he resided in a halfway house in Texarkana.
- Jim Bakker - Created PTL organization. Convicted of fraud, tax evasion, and racketeering.
- Hogen Fukunaga - Founder of Ho No Hana who was given a fourteen year jail sentence[2] for fraudulently gaining over 227 million yen.
- Grigory Grabovoy - Arrested for defrauding the Mothers of Beslan[3]
- Mary Sue Hubbard - Headed Scientology's Guardian's Office. She was convicted in 1979 of conspiracy against the United States Government. (See article on Operation Snow White for more detail.)
- Dr. Henry Lyons - Former President of National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. for racketeering and grand theft
- Sun Myung Moon - Leader of Unification Church, imprisoned for criminal tax fraud in the 1980s.
- The Morrisseys of the Living Enrichment Center. The husband was imprisoned for money laundering and Mary, the group's leaders, faced charges.
- Benjamin Purnell - Founder of House of David, arraigned for fraud and morals charges in the mid-1920s.
[edit] External links
[edit] External
- Religious Tolerance.org on Doomsday Cults
- Cesnur case studies: A source sometimes criticized as soft on cults, but will mention groups that committed crimes
