Accused Cult Leader Denies Abuse and Manipulation Allegations

According to the news, a former priest named Christopher Brain, 68, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, is facing serious allegations of sexually assaulting women while leading an evangelical church group called the Nine O'Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995. Brain is accused of one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault against 13 women during this period.

Prosecutors claim that NOS became a cult where Brain abused his position to sexually assault a "staggering number" of female followers, exerting control over their lives and ostracizing them from friends and family. However, Brain has denied these allegations, stating that he led the group "on consensus" and was not a "controlling maniac" running a cult for his own ends.

Brain testified in court that the earlier group he led in the early 1980s, which later "dissolved into" the NOS, was likened to a "kibbutz" with 12 members focused on helping the poor and disadvantaged. He denied attempting to indoctrinate or coerce the group members, insisting they were "completely anti-cult." Brain also denied having an extravagant lifestyle or "fleecing" others to pay for it, claiming he lived in a modest two-bedroom house and drove a used car.