Alberta spiritual leader John de Ruiter facing new sexual-assault charges

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Edmonton police have laid multiple new charges of sexual assault against controversial Edmonton spiritual leader John de Ruiter and his wife, Leigh Ann.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout confirmed on Thursday that Mr. de Ruiter, 63, faces three new charges of sexual assault against three different women between the years of 2012 and 2019.

Mr. de Ruiter’s wife – who is also known by her maiden name, Leigh Ann Angermann – is charged with two counts of sexual assault in relation to the same allegations. She is 64.

Mr. de Ruiter was first arrested in January and charged with four counts of sexual assault against women in his community of followers. His wife was then arrested in March, and charged with three counts of sexual assault related to the same incidents, which are alleged to have occurred between 2017 and 2020.

Mr. de Ruiter commands a dedicated community of hundreds – and potentially thousands – of followers from around the world, who believe him to be a highly evolved spiritual being and “the living embodiment of truth.”

In 2017, The Globe and Mail reported on questions in the community around Mr. de Ruiter’s sexual relationships with followers. In the past three years, Mr. de Ruiter and his followers have been in the process of moving from Edmonton to an isolated area of rural Alberta, a Globe investigation showed earlier this year.

At the time of his arrest in January, police said Mr. de Ruiter had “informed certain female group members that he was directed by a spirit to engage in sexual activity with them, and that engaging in sexual activity with him will provide them an opportunity to achieve a state of higher being or spiritual enlightenment.”

Mr. de Ruiter and Ms. de Ruiter have been married since 2009, after Mr. de Ruiter separated from two sisters, Benita and Katrina von Sass, with whom he had been engaged in a common-law marriage. Those sisters later launched lawsuits against him.

During Mr. de Ruiter’s bail hearing in January, court heard that Katrina von Sass now lives with Mr. de Ruiter and his wife.

Mr. and Ms. de Ruiter are not in custody, and remain out on bail on a number of conditions. Under his conditions, Mr. de Ruiter – whose legal first name is Johannes – cannot be alone with women other than Ms. de Ruiter, his daughter, and Ms. von Sass.

Other details of his bail hearing cannot be published because of a court-ordered publication ban. The de Ruiters’ next court date is June 21. No trial dates have been set.

Police previously said investigators believed there may be other complainants, and spokeswoman Ms. Voordenhout said police are still urging people who believe they have been victimized to come forward.

Mr. de Ruiter’s lawyer, Dino Bottos, declined to comment on the new allegations.