Russian ‘Jesus’ sentenced to 12 years

Self-styled prophet and cult leader Sergey Torop, also known as Vissarion, has been jailed for harming followers’ health and finances

A Russian court has sentenced Sergey Torop, a former traffic policeman who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, to 12 years in a maximum-security prison. Torop was convicted of causing psychological and physical harm to his followers and financially exploiting them.

Torop, who goes by the name Vissarion, founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region. The sect attracted thousands of followers with its strict lifestyle that bans meat, alcohol, smoking, swearing, and the use of money. Its members live as vegetarian subsistence farmers in remote Siberian settlements.

The Novosibirsk court also sentenced Torop’s aides, Vladimir Vedernikov and Vadim Redkin, to 12 and 11 years, respectively. All three denied any wrongdoing during the trial, and were ordered to pay 40 million rubles (around $511,500) in moral damages. 

The charges stem from activities between 1991 and 2020, during which investigators found that 16 individuals suffered moral harm, six sustained severe injuries, and one saw his health deteriorate due to the sect’s practices.

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The movement came under legal scrutiny on two separate occasions in 2020. In February of that year, members of the church were interrogated as part of an investigation into corruption and fraud at the Istoki School, which is attended by the children of Vissarion’s followers. Then in August, a criminal case was opened after representatives of the self-styled prophet prevented journalists from filming inside the community.

In September, 2020 Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) raided and arrested Torop and several of his associates, following allegations of psychological pressure and financial exploitation within the sect.

During the raid, police found a stash of jewelry, weapons, adult toys, and money, including rubles, dollars and euros.

Officially registered in 1995 as a religious organization, the Church of the Last Testament was later dissolved following legal actions against its leaders.

The sect gained international attention in 2012 when Vice News released a YouTube documentary titled Siberian Cult Leader Thinks He’s Jesus.