Leader of religious cult indicted for sex crimes

SANTA FE (AP) - The leader of an apocalyptic sect in northeastern New Mexico has been indicted for sex crimes against two young female followers.

The felony indictments against Wayne Bent were returned Tuesday by a grand jury in Clayton.

Bent was indicted on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the district attorney. When Bent was first charged in magistrate court, it was on three counts, but the district attorney said he did not present evidence to grand jurors in the case of a third girl.

The criminal case will now proceed in state district court. The charges were dropped in magistrate court.

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