Siberia’s Self-Proclaimed Jesus Sentenced to 12 Years for Cult Abuse
A Russian sect leader, Sergei Torop, also known as “Vissarion,” has been sentenced to 12 years in a maximum-security prison camp for harming his followers’ health and financial affairs. Torop, 64, claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and founded the Church of the Last Testament in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region in 1991. He attracted thousands of followers, who lived in a settlement called the “Abode of Dawn” or “Sun City,” and imposed strict rules, including no meat, smoking, or alcohol consumption.
The court in Novosibirsk convicted Torop and two aides, Vladimir Vedernikov and Vadim Redkin, of using psychological pressure to extract money from followers and causing serious harm to their mental and physical health. Torop and Vedernikov received 12-year sentences, while Redkin was sentenced to 11 years. The court also ordered them to pay 40 million rubles ($511,500) in compensation for “moral damage” to their victims. All three denied wrongdoing.
The case against Torop and his aides was built on evidence of their abusive practices, including causing “moral harm” to 16 people, serious damage to the physical health of six people, and moderate damage to another person’s health. Vedernikov was also accused of committing fraud. The three men were arrested in 2020 in a security forces raid involving the FSB security service. Torop’s cult, which emerged in the post-Soviet era, was known for its strict rules and isolated community.
