Last year, ‘pastor’ David E. Taylor, 53, the name-it-and-claim-it faith-healing and prosperity gospel heretic, was arrested after the FBI enacted coordinated raids on properties connected to his church.
Along with Taylor, Michelle Branon, 56, the church’s executive director, was also arrested, and the two of them were indicted on charges that they used forced labor (including withholding food, drink and sleep if they didn’t raised tens hundreds of thousands of dollars a day) and threats of eternal damnation to coerce dozens of ministry workers to generate millions of dollars in donations, under the guise of relief for the poor, which were in actuality spent on luxury goods and property.
As a result, they were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, Conspiracy to Commit Forced Labor, and Forced Labor, facing 20 years per charge,
One thing that emerged, however, was the fact, according to a new second superseding indictment:
TAYLOR and BRANNON also used text messages to pressure female laborers to comply with Taylor’s demands for sexually explicit images. TAYLOR, coordinating with BRANNON, threatened some of these female laborers with harmful spiritual and reputational consequences if they disobeyed or delayed complying with his orders to produce and send him graphic sexual images and videos.
Warning: graphic content below.
For example, Taylor began harassing one of his workers, a 19-year-old identified as F-1. Taylor said she would be his future wife and started demanding she engage in sexual acts and send him sexually explicit pictures of herself. Taylor was aided by Brannon, who was pressing her to comply.
The woman resisted, however, which agitated Taylor, who insisted, “I’m greater in rank with God than an angel, and I was sent to tell you what God’s will is.”
During the next 24 hours, Taylor sent F-1 numerous messages threatening her eternal salvation if she didn’t send him nudes. Finally, she sent him a non-intimate picture of herself, which prompted Taylor to harangue Brannon about the girl’s lack of grooming and her willingness to comply.
He made his request explicit:
Finally, F-1 relented. Taylor in turn told her that her body belonged to him, and that she belongs to him.
This whole thing was repeated with multiple women, including an 18-year-old girl, which can be seen here.
