Bent found guilty on three counts

TAOS, N.M. (KRQE) - Jurors on Monday found cult leader Wayne Bent guilty of three of four counts he faced for inappropriately touching two teenaged girls.

Bent, 67, was acquitted of one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor, but was found guilty on another count of the same charge. He was found guilty on both counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The jury had received the case late Friday morning. The trial had begun the previous Monday.

In court, Bent testified that he did lay naked in bed with teenage girls in 2006. He had been accused of inappropriately touching the girls, but claimed he only touched them in the heart in a non-sexual manner. He and one of the girls claimed it was simply a spiritual experience.

After the verdict was read, Bent said he had predicted his conviction a year ago.

"These encounters with those two girls were intended to offend your world and make you mad and convict me," he said. "This is what they were designed to do."

Bent was released and placed on house arrest until his sentencing.

He said he would not eat and only drink water and wait for God to take him.