6: The Fall

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It's July 2, 2019, at around 10 AM, news cameras from TV Global catch a black police pick-up truck, pull up to the federal courthouse in Abadhania, Brazil. In this report, you can see a crowd of people, all dressed in white,

applauding and waving signs with messages like "God is with you." John of God has been in prison for eight months, waiting for this day, his first day in court. This first trial involves four women, who accused Joelta Sheda of sexual abuse.

Cameras were not allowed to observe the court proceedings,

“which is common in trials involving sex crimes.”

But after the hearing, one of Joel's lawyers, Albert Totodon, tells TV Global that John of God says he is innocent. He only remembered one of the victims,

and he said he never committed any act of sexual abuse against her.

At the end of this TV report, you can see prosecutor Luciano Miranda exit the courthouse. He looks serious, upset, even. He gets in his car without making any comments to the press. It's no surprise Luciano has his game face on.

Convicting anyone of sex crimes that happened years ago is difficult, especially when he's the most famous, influential, and revered spiritual guru in the country. But Luciano and his team have spent months meticulously putting together their case,

and they're not going to repeat mistakes of the past. In fact, in the days to follow, they're going to argue something that if done successfully will deal a death blow to Joel's defense. From exactly right media and aton the media,

this is too fast, John of God. I'm your host, Martina Castro. Episode 6, The Fall. Luciano Miranda says when it comes to prosecuting crimes of sexual abuse, there are both strengths and weaknesses to Brazilian law.

"It's hard to say if we have more negative or positive aspects, we have some that deserve careful consideration." He pointed out three specific challenges.

First, until recently, victims had to give the government permission

to prosecute their aggressor, and not only that, the victims had to do it within six months from the moment the perpetrators' identity came to light, or the government could not step in. This law changed in 2019,

but it's still managed to have a huge impact on the prosecution's case against Joel, starting in 2018. "Moi does with you, ex. Moi does with you, ex." "Many women did not even understand that they had been abused

Ocaso Celevado, Brasilia Palinpresso.

“"Nos perdemos varios, so we lost several opportunities”

to prosecute Joel de Cheira because of the six-month legal issue."

Second, Luciano points out the tricky nature of Brazil's statute of limitations.

Under Brazilian law, someone can only be prosecuted for crimes that happened in the past 20 years. But if the person being accused is more than 70 years old, that time is cut in half. So Joel could only answer to allegations from the past 10 years,

even though victims reported abuse that happened 40 years ago.

“Luciano says this kind of statute might make sense when it comes to other crimes,”

but not with crimes of a sexual nature. "Borkia, Mokoi is a converse, because one thing is, when you're the victim of a theft of robbery, you immediately want to go to the authorities immediately. But when you're the victim of a sexual crime, it's different, edgy fit it, and for a person to find the strength to speak about it, each victim needs their own

time." "Have the Beach Mokoi tae supras, silk deem."

And finally, "Think there's a third, very negative point in Brazilian legislation that still

persists, the need for repeated depositions from the victim." "He had added this way too, was that Beach Mokoi, the woman is basically questioned for longer than job to shade herself. It's as if she were the real defendant in the case." "I've heard that Dira hey, the process." "These are just a few of the legal challenges the prosecution would face. The biggest one had to do with hard evidence."

"The prosecution didn't have any, no DNA or fingerprints, no eyewitness testimony. It would just be the victim's word against showouts."

"You'll help me to finish my child thing that didn't do." "And I really, unfortunately,

have nothing. I have nothing to prove what happened other than my word." "You don't tell you. I have nothing. Nothing. I'm telling you." But Luciano and his team made a smart move. The victims who couldn't press charges due to statute of limitations or other legal issues, they were still included in the case, but not as victims instead as witnesses. When all of those testimonies were taken together, they took on a power that neither one of them

had on their own. "Yes, I think I'm in three as soon as I entered, don't go wash off. He not only closed, but he locked it with the key."

“"I remember that at that moment I froze. Why didn't I tell him right away? Why didn't I say it right away?”

"I don't go sicky. I couldn't do it. I don't know how I did it. I don't know how I did it. I wasn't understanding what was going on." Maybe one person could make up what happened to them. Or two, but hundreds of women with similar stories about what John of God did to them over the span of 40 years, women who didn't even know each other, that's no coincidence, that's a pattern, a modus operandi.

To punctuate his point, Luciano mapped out the instances of abuse on a graph. This graph showed how victims reported similar experiences over time. The only thing that shifted as John of God got older was the kind of abuse the victims reported. "As Vich was no helatavo, my spinetrasso, the victims no longer reported penetration, but then they reported other forms of sexual abuse including genital manipulation,

masturbation, or touching of intimate parts." And in Brazil, all of those sexual acts are considered rape. Brazilian law understands rape as any nude act, any act with sexual connotation. Whether it's growing the breasts, buttocks, genitals, intercourse, masturbation, all of this, depending on the context,

So this is where Brazilian law was going to help the prosecution.

First, it meant you could be charged for the sexual abuse he committed in his later years.

And second, the prosecution could argue that the unified shift in victims testimonies over time made it highly improbable that the victims were somehow all telling the same lie. It showed the opposite, they were most likely telling the truth. Hello, it's me Anacinfield from the Girl Friends, the number one hit true crime show that puts women right in the center of their own stories.

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And finally, will meet Rosamund. If it wasn't for the air, where Ella lived, she wouldn't have died on that fatal night.

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“two employees behind the counter, arguing about movies?”

Well, that's us. I'm Millita Cherko. And I'm Casey O'Brien, and now we're arguing about movies on our podcast. Dear movies, I love you, from the exactly right network. Can I say something about the criterion closet?

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Or an ice cream shop with an extra pee and an E at the end. So consider us your Slack or movie clerks in podcast form. I would like to establish a timeline.

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Every Tuesday, we dig into the movies we can't stop obsessing over. From hing gems to big screen favorites. New episodes drop every week on the exactly right network. Listen to Dirty Rush on the I-Hot Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When it came time to go to trial, the prosecution decided to divide up the charges.

That first case officially went to trial in July of 2019. Finally, Luciano and his team would get to test their argument in court. The trial centered on four women who accused Joelta Sheda of raping them. It took place in Abadiania, Joelau's hometown, which already put the prosecution at a slight disadvantage.

But then they learned the judge presiding over the trial. Would be Rosandra Rodriguez dos Santos. Amizma Juiz, the same judge who tried Camila's case. She was the same one who acquitted him. We learned about this trial in the last episode.

This is the same judge who heard Camila R's case against Joelta back in 2012 and who acquitted him in 2013 due to illegal technicality. Then there was the defense. Joelta's lawyers already proved that they would stop at nothing to get their client acquitted. Including spreading rumors and lies about the victims in the press.

In particular, Luciano knew they would focus on the biggest weakness in the prosecution's case. The fact that many of the victims returned to the Casa several times after they were first abused.

one that would prove extra helpful in explaining their behavior.

“When the abuse is done by someone you don't expect,”

your ability to react is minimal. It's minimal. Your body shuts down. And that's when we see some phenomena described by neuroscience as tonic immobility, freezing. And that's what we keep hearing.

I don't think it's written. And I'll tell you this, more than 80% of the victims experience that sensation and freezing. The prosecution argued that this freezing was reason enough for the victims to be considered legally vulnerable.

“Rape of a vulnerable person is a more serious crime in Brazil.”

So, if the prosecution were able to prove this, then it would not only explain the victim's behavior, it would also trigger a harsher punishment for sure, wow, if you were found guilty.

The only catch is that this would be the first time this definition would be applied to this kind of victim.

Anosalegis, who is considered a vulnerable person, who's capacity to resist, is in some way diminished or eliminated. At least in our little system. We say that vulnerable is the victim who has a mental disability. And I have a call to the victim who's suffering from an illness.

“For example, his dope is an acoma, that's what we call vulnerable.”

Inocasio de Sheda, and in the case of Jata Sheda, we had victims who didn't fit that profile. To prove them vulnerable, Luciano focused on a few specific traits, many of the victims shared.

First, he pointed out that Joel's victims, or his victims loved ones, were often battling a fatal illness,

and they were desperate for a cure. He knew about the victim's vulnerability. Then there's another issue. He used to say, "For the illness not to return, was it to give volta a key three, four, five times?" And much of what was said, especially by lay people who didn't understand why the victims kept returning, it was because it was created, that if she did not follow the protocol,

she would succumb to that disease. So the entire Joel to Sheda case is rooted in this idea that he relied on the victim's frail touch, on the victim's vulnerability to commit the sexual abuse. Secondly, the victims were largely believers, and people of faith, who saw Joel as their spiritual leader. This made them vulnerable to having their beliefs manipulated by him.

When you touch something so intimate, don't be so personal, which is religion,

and attack them sexually. You basically remove all the support that person has.

You remove the defense mechanism that the person uses. That comes across to deal with any situation. And finally, the freezing aspect of victim's experiences. Luciano called on a psychologist to explain this phenomenon in court. This was the strongest argument for why the victims were indeed vulnerable. It might as fast as when you read what the victim says. When she says, "I felt like a passenger in my own body. It would not continue to greet you,

it would not continue to kill you." I couldn't scream, I couldn't run. And when I thought what he was doing to me was wrong, I felt like I was getting in the way of my own healing process. This is common in cases of what the psychologist called trust rape. That's when the person abusing you is someone you trust, and he does it in a place you feel safe. Luciano says that context makes one react very differently than if you were attacked walking down a dark street.

If you're walking in a place that you know is a dangerous zone. You're alert.

But when it happens in a setting where you don't expect it, the phenomenon of tonic immobility and freezing is very common. This is a very interesting issue for the legal aspects of the job to shade a case that we had to cover. After five and a half long months in court,

it was finally time to hear the judges ruling. By the way, in Brazil, all cases are tried by judges

“unless they involve a homicide, which is the only crime tried by a jury. That's why so much”

was at stake for Luciano and his team as they carefully presented their argument against Joao. It would all boil down to one person's decision. We didn't know how the courts would behave. We knew what we had, the legal conviction. We saw that each of us had their own society. But we didn't know how the courts would act. And the response was very positive in that first batch.

Positive because at the end of the trial, Judge Rodriguez Dos Santos convicted Joao on two counts of rape of a vulnerable person and two counts of sexual violation through fraud. Joao was sentenced to 19 years and four months in prison. I knew he was going to get convicted. I knew it was going to happen.

Journalist Camila Apell, who was behind the show that ultimately broke the story about Joao as

a serial rapist, remembers the moment she first heard about the conviction. Even though she was confident he wouldn't get away with it, she couldn't help but get emotional when she heard the news. I did cry. I cried because of the woman that I've talked to called me and they were crying. They were so, so happy. And so filling for the first time that they have been heard,

“Justice was made and that made me very, very emotional and now never forget it.”

Now that Luciano knew his argument was legally sound, he and his team moved forward with the other batches of cases and they kept winning. By March of 2020, Joao had been sentenced to 60 years in prison. It looked like he was going to spend the rest of his days behind bars. But in what seems to be typical fashion for John of God, the universe was about to intervene on his behalf and give him a major break.

It's the transmission of the disease that you've all heard so much about COVID-19, which is expanding across Brazil. So, spares as visit as visit to federal prisons have been suspended. The measure is intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“By March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had reached every state in Brazil.”

Joao's lawyers had already been working on a petition for Joao to serve his sentence under House arrest instead of prison, given his advanced age and ill health. The new pandemic gave their argument the extra ammunition they needed. The petition was heard by the presiding judge in Abadiania, Judge Rodriguez de Santos, and she granted it. So, on March 31, 2020, Joao got to go home.

The prosecution would continue its cases against John of God and ultimately take him to court 17 times. They convicted Joao on charges of sexual abuse, rape, and illegal possession of a firearm, securing record sentences. All together, he got more than 500 years.

Well, it's not something we see all the time. I, myself, have never seen it before, or since.

But despite all of those wins, Luciano Miranda and his team were not able to get you out to serve that time, behind bars. So now, several years since the last trial took place, a huge question looms over Joao's convictions, is just as ultimately being served. So now, several years since the last trial took place, a huge question looms over Joao's convictions,

is just as ultimately being served. Well, it depends on who you ask.

Home for Joao is a sprawling mansion in Anapolis, just a 30-minute drive from the Kasa in Abadiania.

“He's still allowed to see followers there, and conduct healing sessions.”

He can even continue to collect donations and money from the Kasa. As far as Luciano can see, Joao is living life to the fullest. [speaking in foreign language] That was two, three years ago. [speaking in foreign language]

While many are still feeling imprisoned, we're experiencing what he did. He is in his mansion, in his home, with all the perks that money can buy. Sitting at home and getting remarried, it doesn't work for me. Because his old, I mean, give me a break. Karina is one of the victims who agrees with Luciano's point of view,

as well as Camila R. For all my disposuits and with the Doha Kitty causal, he heard a lot of people. He caused a lot of pain, a lot of trauma for a lot of people who can't, that they were unable to go on with their lives and turn the page. [speaking in foreign language]

And he's still in his house, [speaking in foreign language] Where are the restrictions he has? Oh, he can't leave the house. I have a lot of restrictions today, a lot. And I didn't do anything wrong.

[speaking in foreign language] So I don't feel that justice was actually done, even though he was convicted. On the other hand, Anapawla, the victim who story we heard in episode three, tries to focus on what was accomplished.

“I believe that even house arrest is a compliance with justice.”

Yes. [speaking in foreign language] Justice has been served. His mask has fallen off. [speaking in foreign language]

Journalist Camila Apel from the Conversa Combial Show also thinks justice was ultimately served.

The thing that he estimated the most, he lost, which is his credibility, his name. He was very, you know, he was very proud of himself for having famous friends. And they all turned his back on him. He's a no one today. What everyone can agree on is that this story is far from over.

John of God and his crimes might no longer lead the headlines, but his influence is still felt in Abadhania and the Kasa, especially if you take into account all of the other crimes that surfaced after Joao's arrest. Hello, it's me Anapawla from the girlfriends. The number one hit true crime show that puts women right in the center of their own stories.

I'm back with more one of interviews with some truly kick ass women on the girlfriend's spotlight. I want to introduce you to Sylvia. I'm going to climb it! And then there's Versaqa. Let's see how we can stop killing and see if lives.

Layla dared to ask the question, his badness hereditary. And finally, will meet Rosamund. If it wasn't for the air, where Ella lived, she wouldn't have died on that fatal night.

You'll even get to meet my mum in that one who I can always count on to keep my feet on the ground.

I'm not too intimidated by her. What are you talking about? Listen to the girlfriend's spotlights on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Dirty Rush, the truth about Sir Arty Life, the good, the bad, and the sisterhood.

With your host, me, Gia Judai, Daisy Kent, and Jennifer Kessler. Brush, the recruitment, the ritual, the reality of Greek life has been a mystery for those outside the sorority circles until now.

“Is it really a supportive sisterhood that's simply misunderstood?”

Or is there something more scandalous happening on campuses across the country? In this podcast, we pledge to peel back the layers and spell out the truth one Greek letter at a time. Pludges and actives, rush chairs and ritual keepers, some call it the best time of their life, while others say it's a nightmare. From a perfect rush to recruitment scandals, what is really going on behind the doors of

those sorority houses from Alpha to Omega? We're taking you inside Sir Arty Row, including the chapter room, as we explore the fellowship in the front of me's, let's get dirty. Listen to Dirty Rush on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And this week on Bookmarked, we're basically hosting the Ultimate Girls Night.

Reese with her spoon, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Rita Wilson, and Gary Rice and author Laura Dave. These are the women behind season two of the Apple TV series The Last Thing He Cold Me. We're talking about turning a book into a hit show, and what it really takes to bring a story to life.

“The most important metric for me is do I want to share this book with somebody?”

That's what creates community, and that's the main thesis of our book club, and why we started it, was just to connect people together. Listen to the bookmarked by Reese's Book Club podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Right around the time, John of God was awaiting his first trial in 2018.

Journalist Cristina Phoebe was kicking off a brand new investigation into his crimes. She was proud of the article she worked on with reporter Elena Borges for the newspaper, but she felt like there was one question no one had tackled yet. Okay, so how? How is that possible? How can he be like in the most, you know famous spiritual sensory in Brazil? Everyone was looking to Kazakhstan in Asu,

and he was just abusing hundreds of women, followers going there searching for a cure.

“And the only thing we hear as we publish, as like a press, is how many people he was curing.”

He was like something that didn't like make any sense. So to make sense of this, Cristina decided to write a book about Chihuahua. It would try to explain how he created a sphere of influence and power that permitted him to sexually abuse his followers for over four decades. So I was like trying to understand how, how did people know?

And there was what I discovered like when when I went to Abajan and I started searching. It was very easy to find out that everyone knew. Everyone knew. Cristina interviewed Chihuahua's victims. Some of his childhood friends and neighbors. She spoke with several local authorities in Abajania and even visited the Kasa herself, undercover. Immediately she was met with veiled threats and an intense culture of secrecy.

Like for example, when she went to talk to the local police in Abajania, she asked them about several criminal incidents that had popped up in the press since Chihuahua was arrested. Incidents that seemed to have no formal case files attached to them. It was like many, many cases, which were hidden.

“So we went there to say, hey, what's about that case and that case? Where are the documents?”

And he said, yeah, of course I'm going to help. Anyway, the second day I went there,

he had researched my family and he had googled my name and he wanted to tell me, you know, I know who you are, I know who your mother is, I know where you live. And then five days later, Cristina got back home late one night after work. And I had a car waiting for me like, I lived in a house in a very safe neighborhood in Rio. And he was blocking my garage. So I went around him, went inside my home.

He was there for like five minutes watching me and then he went a few times around the block. But yeah, I felt like they were telling me, yeah, I'm watching, I know where you live and you'll be careful. Cristina persisted with her investigation. And she discovered some unsettling things that had gone on under the radar at the casa. Many people went there very sick and they died. And we just didn't know about that. It wasn't in the news. The person just disappeared.

The family didn't know what had happened to the person or they would get like return to the family without a proper document, saying what happened, why did that person die? So Cristina went to the local office in Guayas where deaths are registered and tried to gather some of this information. She asked for all the people who were known to have died in Abadhania in one given week. And they gave me like, I don't know, 20 and it was like a very small

towel and out of the list, the majority was from all the countries. Cristina dug some more and she was able to find some names. In 2012, over the course of just two

Martha Rousher, age 58, and Elizabeth Herring, age 47. And from France, Giselle Marie-Chan-Luke,

“age 78, and from Greece, Ivangelina Arguidi, age 56. It's still unclear how these women died.”

And then after that, I started to learn that there were also people murdered, which was like a whole other arm of the investigation. It was like two very close assistance to John F. God that were murdered at the parking lot, off-casters were murdered like with 10 gunshots. It was like very, very huge thing. Some people were eventually prosecuted for these separate incidents that occurred in 1988 and the other in 1995. But Cristina doesn't believe they were the real

culprits. So it was like, there's small fish were incriminated and ingio, but not the guy who

were really telling them to do it. They never got to John F. God, never, ever, they stopped before him.

“Little by little, Cristina was piecing together what appeared to be a mafia-like network of”

influence that Joao held over this town. One that covered up the sexual abuse, but potentially other serious crimes. To do this, he would have needed help from his associates at the Gassa and his powerful friends in the political and legal system, but also from his family. We haven't mentioned much about them, but some of the charges were also filed against his wife at the time. Joao has had three wives over the years and one of his nine children. The most disturbing of all

was an accusation from one of his daughters, saying Joao had sexually abused her since she was a child.

So what happens with all of these other crimes? All of these other people who helped cover up or hide what was going on. By the end of her investigation, Cristina came up with a hypothesis. My conclusion was, the authorities may like kind of an agreement to focus on the sexual abuse because if they had looked into everything, they would have to arrest a lot of more people and including authorities who were not investigating correctly, you know, prosecutors, judges,

they would really have to look at it and they are not willing to do that at all. The public prosecutor Luciano Miranda acknowledges the limited scope of his investigation, but when I asked him about this, he defended his decision to focus on Joao and on his sexual crimes. I know there's criticism that more people should have been arrested or prosecuted, but all I can say is that from a legal standpoint, we went as far as the law allowed us to go.

Same pyrotechnias say without the atrics and without trying to perform something just for the press, which would later end up discrediting our investigation. But more of this is that I don't know if it should

“that so. So that's why Luciano says he put his head down and focused on representing the victims”

who had viable accusations against Joao, and it's something he does to this day, because the cases against Joao of God are far from closed. We don't have a final decision from the superior court of justice, the Supreme Court, which is the highest court, cows are in the threat that presides himself, so this still causes us some concern, because every time let's say a new judge or a new group of judges reviews the case, it makes us apprehensive, stress, apprehensive,

because I don't know if they'll understand the specificity of this case. Go on with one cause, just see how this case is unlike anything else. That might sound unlikely at this point, but not if you consider that the CASA is still alive and functioning today, even without Joao there in person. There's still two groups there, and I just think it's terribly dangerous. Former tour guide, Michael Baylot, says more work has to be done to get the word out about Joao's

crimes, especially to foreign followers. A lot of Europeans are still going. They don't speak Portuguese for the most part. They don't understand that they've only heard what the tour guide

do anything, and they're just trying to shut them up and put them out of business. I thought

“a moral obligation to tell everybody about this, because none of this is really being published.”

She heard from tour guides who were still taking people and decided to visit the CASA herself as recently as 2024. And I, when I was there in May I saw a German group and an Australian group had just left. During her visit, Christina says she saw a very different version of Abadiania than the one she saw at the peak of its popularity. So, of this 72 guest houses, therefore left. Everything else

closed their doors. Most shops are closed, a lot of houses were closed. There were still a few

crystal and Jewish shops, lots of foresale signs. So, what I saw is that the CASA continues to be run, but now by volunteers, there are many foreigners leaving there still. So, the rituals are being performed

“as usual when it's day to Friday. The same things happened. The global movement I think could”

change in some way. For example, I talked to people and who said, "Oh, look, people who won't care about money, left, and now it's much better because the energy is pure."

The flexibility that Joao built into his belief system to attract more foreigners

is what Christina credits with giving the movement a future without him. So, rather than decline, followers see this in reverse, they see this as a transformation as a revival as an increase in spiritualization of the place. But of course, Christina says this also leaves room for Joao to potentially make his way back to the CASA. The word in Abadiania is that he still plans to return. People told me that he insists that the

entities are telling him he's going to go back to the CASA. I mean, really, he's 82 and he hasn't appointed any successor, which means that he's still in a controls the place. The day when he left, he put a saint, his painter and saint, Santa Rita of Casia. He has a big statue of her, he put on his chair that nobody can sit here. So, he's very clever. I mean, no successor on coming back. You wait. For many, John of God and his crimes are in the past. But the people we spoke with for this series

say this story is still very present for them. Sometimes I talk about it as a journalist in Brazil

“and I think, wow, I'm repeating myself. I'm talking about his a lot. Why am I still talking”

about it? Journalist Christina Phoebe reflects on why it's important to still talk about John of God and this case, even so many years later. I feel like regarding the press coverage in Brazil after he's in jail and he has been condemned. He has a feel like, wow, the monster is away. It's all over. It's okay. And I keep talking about it because not only authorities are not looking at the other crimes, there is like people who are also criminals that are with no punishment and are just

free and so I still think that this case is symbolic of how far can the abuse scheme go. So Christina feels compelled to continue covering cases of sexual abuse and shed light on the prevalence of this type of crime in society. It's not only like the guy who comes with a gun and rapes you or the husband who beats his wife. It's also about the guy who is a guru and he leads you to believe that he needs to do it. So the abuse has other types of mechanisms

that goes on and is going on there. I'm sure there is in the United States and there is in Latin American countries and in Europe. No one, unfortunately, is safe from that kind of abuse. It's been a while. Looking back, how has this impacted your life and changed you?

After breaking the story on Converta, Camilla Apple was also compelled to bring more information to the

public about John of God and his crimes. She worked on a longer documentary series about the case for global highlighting many more victims voices. The documentary came from the need to answer questions that were being made to me and that I couldn't just answer. I had to show them.

“Personally, I think he had a bad impact on the way I see spiritual leaders, spiritual healers”

and one of the saddest things I've ever heard about the victims was that he took away their

faith, their ability to believe and to put their faith in anything and I do think I lost a bit of

mine because it just so, so terrible, what he did with those women, what everyone did and I wish I do wish some time I can get it back, get it back, get my faith back somehow. As for the survivors we spoke with, Camilla R was inspired by her experience to become a lawyer and says her relationship with God is now as strong as ever. I am a lawyer today, I chose to study law because of this, because when it came to the judicial

sphere, I felt very helpless. I managed to get through my panic disorder today, thank God, I don't have anything so good at the uncured. Ana Paula and Carina now volunteer to help other survivors of sexual abuse to speak out and seek counseling. Carina now sees red flags in some of the things John of God offered his followers like a sense of belonging or a community. I don't want to be a part of any community, anything whatsoever. No, because a lot of law is so what I learned about

the so-called spiritual followers and people, it's kind of like a little fashion, oh I'm so delighted that I'm so cool, I don't have any tolerance for that stuff. Carina also believes we shouldn't give so much power to anyone person or man. Instead, she, Ana Paula and Camilla R,

“they also say you should give that power to yourself, to your own voice and don't be afraid to use it.”

Speak up. Speak up, seek justice, your word has power, it has enormous strength. And to speak up, to be believed, it's liberating. Start by talking to those who love you, to those who will give you the strength to speak up,

tell them first, because you will be supported. Nobody has to go through this alone.

No one. And I think that this was a great example for all of us that together, we are much stronger. Because I was not able to do it alone. But after I was supported, look at how many people, how many things we achieved together. Look at who we managed to catch. It's a power they weren't aware they had until after John of God's crimes came to light. Now, many say the real power to heal was actually inside them all along.

I don't doubt things that happened there in the house.

“Not least because I believe a lot in the faith of the people who were there with him.”

They were there asking emanating positive energies. I'm a big believer in that. I'm a firm believer. We can heal our own selves. Not everybody, but we all have that in us. And faith moves mountains. A lot of the healing happened because of faith of the person themselves. That word again. Faith. Faith in your own ability to heal. In your own strength to fight against all odds to tell the truth.

Faith in your power to bring justice to people who have been wronged. Faith, they can make you vulnerable. Or invincible. As we wrap this final episode, I want to take a moment to personally thank everyone who

books about Jonov God greatly informed our reporting. To come to Ape, not only for our

“interview, but for her investigation for the Conversa Convielshow and for the documentary she”

later produced for Global. To Luciano Miranda, for taking the time to give us the legal dimension of this historic case in Brazil. Thank you to Michael Baylot and Amy Bianch, the former tourguides who had great personal risk to themselves spoke with me and other journalists to denounce Shawau's crimes. Sadly, Amy Bianch fell ill after our interview and passed away in January of 2025. We honor her memory and her bravery in our documentary series.

And the biggest of my thanks to survivors Ana Paula, Gardina, and Camila are for choosing to use their voices once more to hopefully inspire others to use their own. But also, to remind us of all the ways in which we need to keep accountable, those we give power in our society. This series would not have been possible without the development research and production support of producer Giovanna Romano Sanchez. All of our

booking and fact checking was executed by journalist and reporter Aloeestet Rayano. This series got expert editorial and production guidance in English and in Spanish from senior producer Mariano Pashela. The sound design and score you heard was meticulously done by Mauricio Mendoza, with final mastering by Martin Cruz. And the moving original score was written by

Brazilian composer Mariana Romano. And the amazing voices that interpreted the Portuguese

interviews in English belonged to Andres Cabashero, as Luciano Miranda, Claudio Diaz, as Marcelo Stoduto Giovanna Romano Sanchez, as Ana Paula. And Laura Ubaté, as Camila R. The artwork was designed and created by Vanessa Lylaq, a special thanks to audio engineer Gisero Morgamis, and his studio Gami's Gravacionis in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I recorded all of my narration for this series. We worked with such a supportive and insightful team at exactly right media, a huge thank you

to executive producers Karen Pilgarif, Georgia Hardstock, and Danielle Cramer, with consulting producer Lily Ladowig and associate producer Jay Elias. Thank you all for your trust and partnership.

“If you want to learn more about this story, you can find a list of resources in the description of”

this episode. And you can listen to all the episodes of two-faced John of God on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There you can also find this show in Espanol, just look for those goddess Juan Nidios. Thank you for listening. When you feel uncomfortable, what do you put on it? Biggie. You put on biggie when you feel uncomfortable? So I want to get confident. This is DJ Heaster Prince music is therapy, a new podcast from me,

a DJ and licensed therapist, 12 months, 12 areas of your life. Money, love, career, confidence. This isn't just a podcast. It's unconventional therapy for your entire year. Listen to DJ Heaster Prince music is therapy. On the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast,

“here's the thing. I talked to composer Mark Shaman. It's about the hang. It's the pleasure”

of hanging out with the people that you're with. You know, Robin I was always a great hang

and journalist Chris Whipple. Every White House staffer, they work in a bubble called the West Way and it's exponentially more so in the Trump White House. Listen to the new season. Of here's the thing on the iHeart Radio App, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it's me Anna Sinfield, the host of the Girl Friends. I'm back with more one of interviews with some truly kick ass women on the Girl Friends Spotlight. I'm going to claim it.

It's badness hereditary. Let's see how we can stop killing. I'm not too intimidated by her. What are you talking about? Listen to the Girl Friends Spotlight on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.