Strong City

Cult Leader Could Be Force Fed
By Vic Vela, Staff Writer
© 2009 The Albuquerque Journal

Imprisoned cult leader Wayne Bent has consumed only water this week, leaving open the possibility that state Department of Corrections officials may seek intervention from a judge to forcibly feed him.

Bent – who is serving a 10-year sentence at a Los Lunas facility for having improper contact with children – promised last month that would fast after a state Court of Appeals decision did not go his way.

Central New Mexico Correctional Facility Deputy Warden Ken Sandlin said Bent has not eaten anything since last week and on Monday switched from drinking juice to water.

Sandlin said officials will “closely monitor” Bent and is not ruling out getting “the courts involved” to force Bent to consume nutrients. “If he loses too much weight, then they’ll proceed,” Sandlin said. “He’s a ward of the state and we’re responsible for him.”

Bent, 68, was moved from the prison’s geriatrics unit to a “long-term care” medical unit earlier this month after he made clear his plans to fast, Sandlin said.

Bent – the leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church and self-professed messiah – promised in a letter to followers last month that he would fast after the state Court of Appeals denied his request for a bond, which could have allowed him to be released as his appeal makes its way through the court system.

Bent is seeking to overturn a Taos jury’s decision in December, where he was found guilty of crimes against children.

“This is why my father is now on a religious fast, and will not end his fast until there is movement in the direction of justice, or he dies,” Bent’s son, Jeff, said Thursday. “He was wrongly convicted and wrongly incarcerated as a result of a modern-day witch-hunt, and he cannot continue to be a party to this travesty of justice.”

Wayne Bent wrote in his letter that it would be “disingenuous” of him to accept food from the state, whom he referred to as “criminals who put me here falsely.”

In the Aug. 18 letter, Bent laid out his plan for the fast. It began with Bent reducing meals to one a day at first, then drinking only juice the following week – though, Sandlin said in addition to juice, Bent was consuming fortified drinks that contained nutrients, such as protein and carbohydrates.

Beginning next week, Wayne Bent has promised to consume nothing, though he did say he would accept food from his followers if they are allowed to bring some to him.

That’s not an option, Sandlin said. “That’s not something we allow any inmate to do,” the deputy warden said.

Jeff Bent said the prison has clamped down on visitation since his father began his fast. “We’ve pretty much been blocked out of any type of communication from him,” Jeff Bent said.

Sandlin said that visitations are handled differently when an inmate is in long-term care and that the inmate first must request a visit and get it pre-approved.

Wayne Bent was convicted on one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for separate incidents that took place with two underage girls in the summer of 2006. The incidents took place at the church’s Strong City Compound in rural Union County.

Leader of NM sect goes on fast in prison
© 2009 The Associated Press

LOS LUNAS, N.M. (AP) – The leader of an apocalyptic sect who is serving 10 years in prison for sexual misconduct with teenage female followers is on what he terms a religious fast.

Sixty-eight-year-old Wayne Bent was sentenced last December for criminal sexual contact of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Central New Mexico Correctional Facility Deputy Warden Kenneth Sandlin says Bent ate one meal daily two weeks ago and drank only juice and nutrient-rich Ensure last week, but has taken only water since Monday.

The prison transferred the leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church to long-term care for monitoring.

Sandlin says Bent has lost four to five pounds.

He says the state could seek a court order to give him nutrients if his weight drops too much.

Fast Times at Central New Mexico Correctional Facility
By Maren Tarro
© 2009 alibi.com

Jeff Bent, son of imprisoned Strong City church leader Wayne Bent, released a statement late last night to numerous media outlets, including the Alibi. Wayne Bent was convicted on one count of second-degree criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison (with eight years suspended) in December 2008.

The remaining church members, about 70 individuals, continue to follow Wayne’s teachings. Forty-seven people still live at the Strong City property. Some have relocated to nearby ranches for work, and eight members, including Jeff Bent, have temporarily relocated to Los Lunas to be close to the prison. “Healed, aka Lakeisha Sayer, one of the minors my father was charged over, will be returning to our church property at some point soon, having turned 18,” wrote Bent in an e-mail to the Alibi (Read more…).

[The Alibi also published the following story in April 2008: Perls Before Swine -- Strong City stands by its spiritual leader and waits for deliverance -- at the hands of God or the legal system]

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