Brazilian police arrest ‘devil incarnate’ US sect leader

Police in Brazil have arrested an American sect leader described as the “devil incarnate” for alleged sex attacks on girls at his US religious camp.

Victor Barnard, 53, who was on the US Marshals Service most-wanted list, was arrested in an apartment near white-sanded Praia da Pipa beach, about 2,000km from Rio de Janeiro.

A 33-year-old Brazilian woman was taken into custody with him and police seized computers, mobile phones, pen drives and other objects. The self-professed minister is being held in the city of Natal to await extradition to the US, where he faces 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct.