Joao Teixeira de Faria aka 'John de Deus'/'John of God' was arrested in December. So far, over 600 allegations of rape and sexual assault were made against him in what prosecutors say could be the worst serial crimes case in Brazil’s history

The Brazilian healer became a prominent spiritual figure in 2010, when Oprah Winfrey visited him and said she almost fainted during the “blissful” encounter. And of course Marina Abramovic and Bill Clinton visited him too! /s

The TV host featured her healing experience in a since-deleted episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show titled 'Leap of Faith: Meet John of God’, in which she described seeing him cut into the breast of a woman without anaesthesia and left feeling “an overwhelming sense of peace".

The 77-year-old's reputation as a renowned 'spiritual healer' crumbled two months ago after he was accused of sexually abusing a Dutch woman.

The woman's claims prompted over 600 similar allegations to arise from around the world.

Their ages at the time of the alleged assaults, which took place from the 1980s through to October 2018, range from nine to 67, according to investigators.

All claim the medium invited them for private consultations, where he turned them to face away from him then performed sexual acts as part of their “cure”.

Last week prosecutors brought new charges against him, including that he and his son Sandro Teixeira de Oliveira threatened a victim with a gun, then offered her money, to withdraw a complaint of sexual abuse again the medium back in 2016.

Brazilian activist Sabrina Bittencourt has now sensationally claimed the celebrity medium ran a baby trafficking operation, in which children were “farmed” in Brazil before being sold to childless couples around the world.

Bittencourt's previous investigations led to the spiritual leader's arrest in December.

She claims young girls were held captive in remote farms, where they were forced to produce babies.

She added that the women were murdered after 10 years of giving birth.

In a video, Bittencourt, whose organisation, Coame, helps women report sexual assault by religious leaders, said she has spoken to women from at least three continents who claimed they bought Brazilian babies from John of God for as much as £40,000, reported the Mirror.

Europe was also listed as one of the three continents where Brazilian babies were bought.

Bittencourt claims she has collected testimony from former members of the John of God cult.

She claims Faria would offer money to poor girls aged 14 to 18 to go and live in mineral mines or farms he owns in the Brazilian states of Goias and Minas Gerais.

There they would become sex slaves and be forced to get pregnant - and their babies would be sold to the highest bidder from other continents, Bittencourt alleges.

She said: “In exchange for food, they were impregnated and their babies sold on the black market.

“Hundreds of girls were enslaved over years, lived on farms in Goias, served as wombs to get pregnant, for their babies to be sold.

“These girls were murdered after 10 years of giving birth. We have got a number of testimonies."

“We have received reports from the adoptive mothers of their children that we sold for between £15,000 and £40,000 in Europe, USA and Australia, as well as testimony from ex-workers and local people who are tired of being complicit with John of God’s gang.”

"My father is a monster."

Among the hundreds of allegations against Faria, his own daughter, Dalva Teixeira, came forward with a shocking statement that she was a victim of her father's crimes.

In an exclusive interview with Brazilian magazine Veja, she said that under the pretence of mystical treatments he abused and raped her between the ages of ten and 14.

She claimed he stopped after she became pregnant by one of his employees, after which her father beat her so severely that she suffered a miscarriage.

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