Jane Whaley

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Head of secretive North Carolina sect named in fraud scam

By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR - Associated Press

FILE - In this 2012 photo provided by a former member of the church, Word of Faith Fellowship leader Jane Whaley, center, holds a baby with her husband, Sam, center right, and others during a ceremony in the church's compound in Spindale, N.C. Under the leadership of Jane Whaley, the controversial church has grown to about 750 congregants in Spindale and a total of nearly 2,000 members worldwide. (AP Photo)

Ex-members of church urge overturning of court agreement

By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, NOV. 13, 2017 AND THEREAFTER-Keela Blanton talks about her experiences with her children and the Word of Faith Fellowship church during an interview in Spindale, N.C. on Sept. 27, 2017. In 2008, Blanton was facing about eight months behind bars for various charges, when Laura Bridges _ a Word of Faith member who was then a Rutherford County clerk _ approached her to care for the child until she was back on her feet, she said. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Ex-members say church uses power, lies to keep grip on kids

By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR - Associated Press

Former Word of Faith Fellowship church member Rachael Bryant poses for a photo with her tax records at her home in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. She and 10 other members of the evangelical North Carolina-based church say their leader, Jane Whaley, coerced congregants into filing false unemployment claims after the faltering economy threatened weekly tithes from church-affiliated companies. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

North Carolina church used unemployment scam to boost funds, ex-members say

By Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2017 AND THEREAFTER-In this Thursday, March 30, 2017 photo, Juliana Oliveira, a former member of the Word of Faith Fellowship, cries during an interview in Betim, Brazil. &quot;When you are in a cult, you don't know you are in a cult because little by little it all becomes ‘normal,’&quot; said Oliveira. &quot;It's like a frog in a pot of water. By the time it's boiling, he can't jump out.&quot; (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

AP: Brazilians detail abuses by US church, shattered lives

By PETER PRENGAMAN and MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, JULY 24, 2017 AND THEREAFTER-This Wednesday, March 29, 2017 photo shows Ana Albuquerque, 25, during an interview in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Albuquerque traveled to the Word of Faith Fellowship church in Spindale, N.C., from Brazil 11 times over the course of more than a decade, starting at age 5 with her parents. Over time, she said she witnessed so much screaming and shoving to &quot;expunge devils&quot; that she began to see the behavior as normal. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

“They kept us as slaves”: AP reveals claims against church

By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR and PETER PRENGAMAN - Associated Press

FILE - In this 2012 provided by a former member of the church, Word of Faith Fellowship leader Jane Whaley, center left, holds Jeffrey Cooper's infant daughter, accompanied by her husband, Sam, center right, and others during a ceremony in the church's compound in Spindale, N.C. The AP story, released Monday, March 6, 2017, cited nine former Word of Faith members who said Frank Webster and Chris Back provided legal advice, helped at strategy sessions and participated in a mock trial for four congregants charged with harassing a former member. The ex-congregants also said that Back and Webster, who is sect leader Jane Whaley's son-in-law, helped derail a social services investigation into child abuse in 2015 and attended meetings where Whaley warned congregants to lie to investigators about abuse incidents. (AP Photo, File)

Prosecutors in AP report on church abuse no longer employed

By ALEX SANZ and MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

FILE - In this 2012 provided by a former member of the church, Word of Faith Fellowship leader Jane Whaley, center left, holds Jeffrey Cooper's infant daughter, accompanied by her husband, Sam, center right, and others during a ceremony in the church's compound in Spindale, N.C. The AP story, released Monday, March 6, 2017, cited nine former Word of Faith members who said Frank Webster and Chris Back provided legal advice, helped at strategy sessions and participated in a mock trial for four congregants charged with harassing a former member. The ex-congregants also said that Back and Webster, who is sect leader Jane Whaley's son-in-law, helped derail a social services investigation into child abuse in 2015 and attended meetings where Whaley warned congregants to lie to investigators about abuse incidents. (AP Photo, File)

Prosecutors gone from jobs after AP report on church abuse

By MITCH WEISS and JEFFREY COLLINS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-In this 2012 photo provided by a former member of the church, Jeffrey Cooper holds his infant daughter at her 2012 baby dedication at the Word of Faith Fellowship compound in Spindale, N.C. At second right is Frank Webster, an assistant North Carolina prosecutor who is married to church leader Jane Whaley's daughter, Robin, left. At right is Frank Webster's son, Brock. At second left is Jeffrey Coopers' wife, Natalie. Frank Webster and Chris Back _ church ministers who handle criminal cases as assistant DAs for three nearby counties _ provided legal advice, helped at strategy sessions and participated in a mock trial for four congregants charged with harassing a former member, according to former congregants interviewed as part of an AP investigation of Word of Faith. (AP Photo)

Ex-sect members tell AP: Prosecutors obstructed abuse cases

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-This 2016 image from video shows the entrance to the Word of Faith Fellowship church in Spindale, N.C. Newcomers to the Word of Faith Fellowship live by a list of strict rules for daily life, which sect leader Jane Whaley says God revealed to her, former members say. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz)

Sect rules include no TV, movies or reading newspapers

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-In this 2012 provided by a former member of the church, Word of Faith Fellowship leader Jane Whaley, center, holds a baby with her husband, Sam, center right, and others during a ceremony in the church's compound in Spindale, N.C. When it comes to relationships, marriage and sex, Word of Faith Fellowship members must follow strict and unusual rules _ or risk severe punishment, former members say (AP Photo)

NC church has unconventional rules for sex and marriage

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-In this 2012 provided by a former member of the church, Word of Faith Fellowship leader Jane Whaley, center, holds a baby, accompanied by her husband, Sam, center right, and others during a ceremony in the church's compound in Spindale, N.C. From all over the world, they flocked to this tiny town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lured by promises of inner peace and eternal life. What many found instead: years of terror _ waged in the name of the Lord. (AP Photo)

AP Exclusive: Ex-congregants reveal years of ungodly abuse

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-This illustration made by a former member of the Word of Faith Fellowship church shows a floor plan of the “Lower Building,” a former storage facility on church grounds in Spindale, N.C., that was used to hold those who were deemed to be the worst sinners, according to interviews with 43 members of the evangelical church. The figures in the illustration were used for scale, and the diagram was made to give authorities an idea of what the structure looked like. (AP Photo)

Former disciples describe storage annex for ‘worst sinners’

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo provided by Rachael Bryant, Word of Faith Fellowship leader Jane Whaley holds the newborn infant of one of her congregants in a hospital in Shelby, N.C. Word of Faith Fellowship has been scrutinized on numerous occasions by law enforcement, social services agencies and the news media since the early 1990s_ all without significant impact, mostly because followers refused to cooperate. (Rachael Bryant via AP)

Fiery NC church leader could be mistaken for successful CEO

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press

ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 AT 1 A.M. EDT AND THEREAFTER-This 2016 image from video shows the entrance to the Word of Faith Fellowship church in Spindale, N.C. Newcomers to the Word of Faith Fellowship live by a list of strict rules for daily life, which sect leader Jane Whaley says God revealed to her, former members say. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz)

Sect rules include no TV, movies or reading newspapers

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press