Sect leader on parole

Taos News

February 17, 2016

Adrew Oxford

The man considered a messiah by members of a Christian sect and convicted in 2008 of criminal sexual contact with an underage girl during what he claimed to be a religious ceremony was freed from prison last week.

Wayne Bent, 74, was released on supervised parole Feb. 11 and has registered as a sex offender, according to records from the New Mexico Corrections Department.

A lengthy “last will and testimony” offering what is purported to be Bent’s take on the case against him has since been posted on a website dedicated to the sect leader.

“The Appeals Court judges, the Supreme Court justices and the district court judge have all stated their opinions in my legal case,” says the letter, which was posted Feb. 14. “Now I would like to tell my story and issue my opinion of it.”

The letter, purportedly written by Bent, maintains he never molested the teenage girl he was convicted of inappropriately touching.

The letter mentions a videotaped interview the girl provided to his attorney in 2010 during which she denied he was guilty of any crime and called for the sect leader’s release.

Bent founded the Lord Our Righteousness Church in 1987. Based near Clayton, it has been described as a cult. 

The 2006 incident that led to the charges against Bent are said to have been part of a religious ceremony connected to the Book of Revelations during which virgin women and girls were to lie naked with the nude Bent, who testified he touched them on their sternums. Two of the girls, ages 14 and 16, were sisters. Bent was indicted on two counts of criminal sexual contact and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A jury in Taos convicted him on all but one count of criminal sexual contact and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The letter posted on WayneBent.com describes the case against Bent as religious persecution.

“My greatest offense in all the world was that I showed myself independent from them and my testimony was that I was led of God. For this they called me a 'cult leader,' but there is no 'cult' greater than theirs,” Bent writes. “Our church does not persecute those who are different, but they have persecuted us.”

Bent’s release from prison concludes a legal odyssey that included an appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court and a writ of habeas corpus.

In November, Judge Abigail Aragon ordered the New Mexico Corrections Department release Bent by the end of 2015 on numerous conditions, including that he register as a sex offender and not have contact with children.

The Eighth Judicial District Attorney’s Office did not oppose Bent’s release on supervision, which also includes electronic monitoring.

But Bent remained behind bars as lawyers for New Mexico’s prison system maintained they did not have authority to release him without approval from the state’s parole board, which reportedly met earlier this month.

The lawyer representing Bent asked for his quick release so he may receive treatment for cancer.

Bent’s health is deteriorating, attorney John McCall indicated.

The septuagenarian is at risk of losing hearing in both ears if he does not undergo surgery, McCall said.

Family members said after Bent’s court appearance last month he would return to the church's ranch near Clayton. But the state’s sex offender registry lists Bent as living at an address in Raton.

http://www.taosnews.com/news/article_80ca7cb0-d539-11e5-ad7c-eb705b08a880.html

Sect leader Wayne Bent slated for release from prison

Albuquerque Journal

Mark Oswald / Journal Staff Writer

January 26, 2016

 

TAOS — After hearing in court here today, it appears that religious sect leader Wayne Bent, 74, will soon be out of prison after seven years behind bars for his 2008 conviction on charges of second-degree criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Lawyers for Bent, the state Corrections Department, and the District Attorney’s Office agreed that Bent should be released because of his need for medical care for skin cancer. But attorney Jim Brewster, representing the Corrections Department, said the state Parole Board needed more information before it would release Bent. District Judge Abigail Aragon previously had ordered Bent’s release by the end of 2015.

Issues that need to be worked out include whether there is cell phone service at the Union County property of Bent’s church, the Lord Our Righteousness Church, where he will return after his release. He will be required to wear a GPS monitor that needs such cellular reception. Bent attorney John McCall said there’s a chance a revised order for release can be worked out in time for a Parole Board meeting next week.

He was convicted of inappropriate sexual behavior with two teen-age sisters in 2006 when he lay naked with them. But according to information provided by McCall, both women have now called for Bent’s release.

Bent has already served seven years of his 10-year sentence.

http://www.abqjournal.com/712571/abqnewsseeker/sect-leader-wayne-bent-slated-for-release-from-prison.html

Judge cuts New Mexico cult leader’s prison sentence

Marissa Lucero

January 7, 2016

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A judge has ruled that a cult leader should be released from prison early after he was convicted of sex crimes in 2008.

A jury sentenced 74-year-old Wayne Bent to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of lying naked in bed with two teenage girls at his northern New Mexico compound. He was found guilty of one count of criminal sexual contact and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

After he was sentenced, Bent addressed the court.

“With all the respect to the court I won’t be serving anytime in prison expect for maybe a few days,” Wayne said.

Wayne was wrong. He’s been in prison for nearly seven years.

Now, a judge has ruled that Bent be released because he’s been diagnosed with skin cancer. The motion states that Bent needs to be released for “further medical treatment,” but that he’d be on supervised probation.

According to court documents, the judge set Bent’s release date for no later than December 31, 2015. However, Bent remains behind bars.

The New Mexico Corrections Department filed a separate motion asking the court to clarify its ruling.

The motion states NMCD “cannot comply with the simplest interpretation of the court’s amended judgement.”

The corrections department said Bent must appear before a parole board before a decision like that can be reached. According to the corrections department, no such hearing has been scheduled.

However, a hearing has been set in order to clarify the judge’s amended motion to release Bent from prison. That hearing is scheduled for Jan 26, 2016.\6-

http://krqe.com/2016/01/05/court-rules-convicted-cult-leader-be-released-from-prison/