Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil · 2025

Brazil: pastor convicted of using overnight 'spiritual healing' prayer sessions to sexually violate four congregants by fraud

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

pastor conducting overnight prayer meetings, Dourados

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The conviction rests explicitly on sexual violation 'by fraud' — the pastor's claimed prophetic/healing authority is what the court found made the victims' consent legally vitiated; without the doctrinal claim the acts would not have occurred.

  • Spiritual healing or treatment
  • Sacred sex, purity, or sexual-energy claim

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2025-07-03 · conviction and sentence

    3ª Vara Criminal de Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul (Juiz Pedro Henrique Freitas de Paula). Evandro Luiz Baptista, 53, was convicted of one count of sexual violation by fraud and three counts of sexual harassment against four women aged 20-40, and sentenced to six years and eight months in semi-open regime, plus damages of at least R$10,000 to each victim. The court found he conducted overnight prayer meetings where, speaking in tongues, he convinced the faithful that intercourse with him was necessary to transmit vital energy and produce spiritual healing.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • claimed spiritual doctrine that sexual contact ('a passagem do varão') transmitted healing vital energy
  • late-night prayer meetings staged to isolate congregants
  • sexual violation by fraud premised on false spiritual necessity

Primary record

Sources

regional press sentencing report Campo Grande News (2025) 'Pastor é condenado a 6 anos por abusos em nome de "cura espiritual"'.

'...convenceu fiéis de que a passagem do varão era necessária para transmitir energia vital e promover cura espiritual.' English gloss: ...convinced the faithful that the passage of the male was necessary to transmit vital energy and promote spiritual healing.

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