Philippines arrests pastor wanted by US for child sex trafficking

A Filipino pastor wanted in the United States for child sex trafficking has been arrested, the country’s interior minister announced on Sunday, September 8. “Apollo Quiboloy has been arrested”wrote Minister Benjamin Abalos on his official Facebook page, without giving further details. The arrest comes two weeks after the police began a massive manhunt for the politically connected preacher.

The pastor known to be close to former President Rodrigo Duterte has also been charged with human trafficking by a Philippine court. Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “son of God” who was Rodrigo Duterte’s spiritual advisor, founded the sect called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) in the Philippines.

The U.S. Justice Department indicted him in November 2021 along with two other men for sexually exploiting women between the ages of 12 and 25, between 2002 and at least 2018. In total, nine people were charged in the case, three of whom were arrested in the United States in March. According to the 2021 indictment by the U.S. Justice Department, the pastor, then 71, had brought to the United States “girls and young women” as personal assistants before forcing them to have sex with him or face a “eternal damnation”.

Some were then to raise money to finance the “lavish lifestyle” of the group’s leaders, including Apollo Quiboloy, the US Department of Justice said at the time. Apollo Quiboloy owned large residences in Hawaii, Las Vegas and a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles.