Apollo Quiboloy, who is wanted by the FBI on charges of child sexual abuse trafficking, surrendered after a police ultimatum, officials say
A pastor wanted in the US for the alleged sex trafficking of children has been arrested two weeks into a huge police manhunt for the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God”, officials in the Philippines have said.
Apollo Quiboloy is the founder of the Philippines-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church, which claims millions of members.
He was charged by the US Department of Justice in 2021 with sex trafficking of girls and women between the ages of 12 and 25 to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals”, who were allegedly required to have sex with him.
Quiboloy and four other co-accused surrendered in the group’s vast religious headquarters in Davao city after the police gave a 24-hour ultimatum for them to give up, police said. The interior secretary, Benhur Abalos, had earlier said Quiboloy was caught by authorities.
Quiboloy and his co-accused were flown on a Philippine air force C-130 plane to the capital on Sunday night and locked up in a heavily guarded detention centre at the national police headquarters, where their mugshots and fingerprints were taken, police spokesperson Col Jean Fajardo said at a news briefing.
“The Philippine national police gave an ultimatum for them to surrender, otherwise we would raid a particular building, where we’ve been barred from entering,” Fajardo said, adding that the warning had led to their peaceful surrender.
