João Teixeira de Faria ('John of God'): convicted of rapes of spiritual patients; ~600 accusers

Cited record

Sources

Associated Press (2019) 'Brazil spiritual healer sentenced to 19 years for four rapes', AP via Spectrum News 13, 19 December. Available at: mynews13.com (Accessed: 15 July 2026).

João Teixeira de Faria — 'John of God', the Brazilian spiritist healer once featured by Oprah Winfrey — was convicted of raping women who had come to him as spiritual patients: 'A judge in Goias state issued a sentence of 19 years and four months for four rapes of different women... João Teixeira de Faria drew people from all over the world to his small city two hours west of capital, Brasilia, with promises he could treat everything from depression to cancer. Hundreds of women, including his daughter, alleged he regularly engaged in abuse ranging from groping to rape.' Subsequent trials through 2023-24 raised his cumulative sentences past three hundred years. Per earlier ABC News reporting of the indictment, 'Nearly 600 female victims — ranging in age from 9 to 67' came forward. It is very likely the largest spiritual-abuse case, by accuser count, ever prosecuted.

court · case status record Court of Justice of the State of Goiás, “João de Deus é condenado a mais de 118 anos de prisão; todas as ações contra o médium foram julgadas em primeiro grau” (Sept. 15, 2023).

The state court reports that all seventeen first-instance criminal cases had been decided, with cumulative sentences of 489 years and four months and convictions concerning 56 victims. It also records partial relief in six appeals, two pending Superior Court appeals and no final appellate judgment as of publication.