5: Taking Down John of God

Summary

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Episode Summary: Two-Faced: John of God

Episode 5: Taking Down John of God

Release Date: February 25, 2026
Host: Martina Castro (Exactly Right & iHeartPodcasts)

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Overview

This pivotal episode traces the unraveling of faith healer João Teixeira de Faria—known worldwide as John of God—from the first public allegations in 2018 to the frenetic legal aftermath in Brazil. Through the voices of prosecutors, victims, and journalists, the episode shows how media exposure sparked an unprecedented, victim-driven investigation into countless sexual crimes, the obstacles posed by power and disbelief, and the reckoning that followed. The episode centers on two major threads: the tactical and emotional process of taking down a protected abuser, and the personal stories of survivors like Camila R., whose failed early lawsuit exposed systemic barriers but later proved instrumental to the broader case.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How the Allegations Came to Light (01:31–04:13)

• Media Breaks the Story: The expose of John of God’s abuse aired nationally on a Friday. By Saturday, criminal prosecutor Luciano Miranda was involved.
• Unusual Sequence: Media coverage came before an official investigation.
  • “The normal thing is you first have the legal investigation, and this is then somehow released to the press... And here we had the opposite.” (Luciano Miranda, 03:09)

2. Building a Bridge for Victims (03:23–04:54)

• The task force set up hotlines/email for tips and allegations, instantly receiving over 100 contacts on day one alone.
  • “We received more than 100 contacts in a single day. I’m unaware of anything like this in cases involving sexual abuse or any case at all.” (Luciano Miranda, 04:13)

3. The Legal Operation and Arrest (05:28–07:47)

• The search and arrest warrants were obtained within days, with simultaneous raids to prevent evidence destruction.
• Investigators found firearms, ammunition, and over 1.5 million reais ($400,000 USD) "scattered among drawers and underw[ear]"
  • “The money was scattered among drawers and underw. It caught our attention because it wasn’t like it was in a safe—it seemed like it was simply thrown around the house, and it was a gigantic amount.” (Luciano Miranda, 07:29)
• John of God initially disappeared, then dramatically turned himself in during an exclusive, recorded interview.
  • "I’m turning myself over to heavenly justice and the justice here on earth as promised." (João Teixeira de Faria, 09:16)

4. The Power Structure & Public Doubt (12:12–14:47)

• João’s influence ranged from three presidents to spiritual pilgrims worldwide.
• His legal team enabled a culture of victim-blaming and spread rumors about the main accuser, Zaheeda Maus, and journalist Camila Appel.
  • “They said she was a prostitute, Zaheeda—I mean, even if she was, of course, but she’s not.” (Zaheeda Maus, 13:18)
  • “The strategy that they use to take the credibility away from the woman who is denouncing the man ...” (Zaheeda Maus, 13:52)
• Camila Appel faced intimidation, leading her father to get her a bulletproof car.

5. Victims’ Voices Emerge (14:47–16:54)

• Many survivors realized what had happened only after widespread news coverage. Over 300 victims from Brazil and internationally contacted authorities.
  • “When it became clear that someone as powerful as João Teixeira could have an arrest warrant ... it showed that he wasn’t untouchable.” (Luciano Miranda, 15:27)
  • “We had victims from practically every Brazilian state, victims from European countries as well, as from the United States, Australia...” (Luciano Miranda, 16:05)

6. Legal Limitations and Challenges (16:54–18:47)

• Many cases weren’t prosecutable due to Brazil’s statute of limitations (“prescriptive period”).
  • “We had over 300 victims that contacted us, but I can say more than half ... their cases had already passed the prescriptive period.” (Luciano Miranda, 16:54)
• Abuse often happened in public amid crowds, making prosecution more complex.
  • “Every law book will say sexual abuse is a crime that will never be committed in a public square ... That’s where our first surprise came in.” (Luciano Miranda, 17:52)

7. Prosecuting a Powerful Man (19:27–21:14)

• Miranda meticulously avoided “excessive accusations” that could jeopardize the case.
  • “If you fail in a single detail, you can put at stake the whole investigation that was well conducted.” (Luciano Miranda, 19:45)
• The case had precedent: John of God had previously been prosecuted for sexual abuse in 2013 and acquitted, setting a difficult standard to overcome.

8. Camila R.’s Story: Survivor and Early Whistleblower (23:24–33:01)

• Personal Background: Raised in a deeply Catholic, spiritual family, Camila suffered panic disorder at 16. Her family turned to John of God out of desperation.
• Description of Abuse: During her visit, John of God molested her while her father was present in the room but instructed not to look.
  • “I was a girl. I was a virgin. But I knew it was wrong. In my head, it was a little confusing because he’s such an important person. Everybody says he heals, that he’s good, that he’s a saint. How could this be happening to me?” (Camila R, 28:18)
• Immediate Aftermath: Camila tried to destroy everything from that day and attempted to report it to the women’s police station.
• Legal Ordeal: The process re-traumatized her, delayed by years, and her family received threats.
  • “It was messages, calls that said ... you don’t know who you’re messing with. You should stop with that.” (Camila R., 31:22)
• Acquittal and Judicial Failure: John of God was acquitted because the judge ruled Camila wasn’t “in danger” with her father present.
  • “She said that she understood that the abuse happened, but that I wasn’t in danger because my father was in the room. I could have asked him for help, basically saying I accepted it.” (Camila R., 32:15)
• The prosecution's appeal was denied; her psychiatric history was used to discredit her.

9. Vindication and Breaking Isolation (33:05–34:01)

• Nearly a decade later, Camila saw Zaheeda Maus on TV telling her own story and realized she wasn’t alone.
  • “Everything I believed in for years... There were other women who had experienced the same thing. And then my world changed overnight. It wasn’t just me.” (Camila R., 33:05)
• Prosecutor Miranda credited Camila’s failed case with helping prevent more abuse—her testimony would become vital to the later, successful prosecution.

10. Themes of Power, Belief, and Continued Threat (34:26–35:27)

• The judge presiding over the 2018–19 trial was the same judge who had acquitted John of God during Camila R.’s case—adding tension to the upcoming legal battle.
• Survivors and journalists remain concerned: tour groups still visit the Casa, and John of God continues to exert influence.
  • “He hurt a lot of people. ... There’s still tour groups there, and I just think it’s terribly dangerous.” (Camila R., 34:55; 35:12)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Media’s Role in Justice:
  “The press at that point became essential to create a bridge between the public prosecutor’s office and the victims.”
  —Luciano Miranda (03:32)

• On Discovering the Extent:
  “By the end of the first day ... we received more than 100 contacts in a single day. I’m unaware of anything like this in cases involving sexual abuse or any case at all.”
  —Luciano Miranda (04:13)

• On Survivor Guilt:
  “I had lived years and years and years of my life thinking that I had been the one person chosen to live through this.”
  —Camila R. (32:50)

• On Justice System Limitations:
  “We had over 300 victims ... but ... more than half ... their cases had already passed the prescriptive period.”
  —Luciano Miranda (16:54)

• On Abuse in Public Spaces:
  “Every law book will say sexual abuse ... never … in a public square. That’s where our first surprise came in.”
  —Luciano Miranda (17:52)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:31–04:13: Miranda joins case; media reporting triggers investigation
• 05:28–07:47: Warrant issuance, search, and dramatic arrest
• 12:12–13:52: Power structure and victim-blaming tactics by the defense
• 14:47–16:54: Victims break silence, scope expands (>300 victims)
• 23:24–33:01: Camila R.’s personal journey: original abuse, lawsuit, acquittal, and aftermath
• 34:26–35:27: Legal stakes for next episode; Casa remains active

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Tone & Language

The episode carries a formal, investigative tone—firm, empathetic, and at times emotionally raw, especially in survivor testimony and commentary from legal professionals. There’s a strong emphasis on skepticism, evidence, the complexity of belief, and the need for survivors to break silence despite immense obstacles.

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Conclusion

This episode reveals both the mechanics and the emotional breadth of dismantling a powerful predator's empire. The use of media as a catalyst, the courage of survivors, and the persistent dangers of disbelief and power structures thread throughout. The episode sets up the next chapter, where the fight for justice continues in the courtroom against daunting odds and a system still reckoning with its failures.

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Transcript

[Amanda Knox]

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast the Case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story?

[Martina Castro]

Evidence has been made to fit.

[Luciano Miranda]

The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed.

[Amanda Knox]

What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe?

[Martina Castro]

Oh, my God.

[Camila R.]

I think she might be innocent.

[Amanda Knox]

Listen to Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Luciano Miranda]

This is Special Agent Riegel, Special Agent Bradley Hall.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world.

[Host (Sixth Bureau)]

The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

Listen to the 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Camila R.]

Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person?

[Host (Boys and Girls podcast)]

Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast. Arranged marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition, hoping to find love the right way. And instead I found chaos, copy, comedy and a lot of cringe. Listen to boys and Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Martina Castro]

Please note that in this episode we'll be talking about sexual abuse and violence, which could be triggering for some listeners. Please listen at your own discretion. Luciano Miranda says he first heard about the allegations against John of God. Like most Brazilians,

[Luciano Miranda]

it was Friday when the TV show appeared in the press here in Brazil.

[Martina Castro]

By Saturday, Luciano was already working on the case. That's because he's a criminal prosecutor in the state of Goias, the state that's home to the Casa and John of God.

[Luciano Miranda]

I immediately saw the situation through the press and was initially invited to speak on behalf of the Public Prosecutor's office.

[Martina Castro]

His job at first was to field questions from the press about the allegations.

[Luciano Miranda]

El curandiro brasileno Joao de Deus acousado de agresina sexuales. A dozen women said the self styled

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

spiritual healer had abused them at his clinic.

[Luciano Miranda]

We had no idea how this would transform and how it would unf.

[Martina Castro]

By Monday, Luciano became part of a task force that would try to understand the magnitude of this case. Because this Situation was far from normal.

[Luciano Miranda]

The normal thing is you first have the legal investigation, and this is then somehow released to the press, this process. And here we had the opposite of that process.

[Martina Castro]

But in this instance, Luciano didn't see it as a bad thing that this all first came out in the press,

[Luciano Miranda]

because when this was released, it ended up reinforcing the idea that maybe there were other victims that were afraid to come forward. So that created like a current, a flow of voices that only grew. And the press at that point became essential to create a bridge between the public prosecutor's office and the victims.

[Martina Castro]

That bridge took the form of an email address and a phone number that the task force set up and distributed to every TV channel in Brazil. They asked people to contact them if they had more information about these allegations or to report new ones.

[Luciano Miranda]

By the end of the first day, we understood the scope of the case involving Mr. Joao Teixeira. We received more than 100 contacts in a single day. I'm unaware of anything like this in cases involving sexual abuse or any case at all.

[Martina Castro]

The task force immediately started processing the avalanche of calls and emails directing victims to make formal complaints with their local authorities. Because there was nothing Luciano or his team could do until someone decided to formally press charges against Joo.

[Luciano Miranda]

And I remember that it was a Wednesday at night, 7pm, and I get a call from a state prosecutor in the Federal district saying that two victims contacted her and they wanted to formally press charges. That means we would have something that could legally allow for a house search and even an arrest warrant.

[Martina Castro]

From Exactly Right Media and Adon de Media. This is Two Faced John of God. I'm your host, Martina Castro. Episode five Taking Down John of God When Luciano heard that two victims were willing to press charges against John of God, he didn't want to waste any time.

[Luciano Miranda]

That same day, I asked my colleague from the Federal District, is it possible to get these sworn statements today? Everything was recorded, and the next day we made the requests. Both the search request and the arrest warrant.

[Martina Castro]

The prison this was Wednesday, December 12, 2018, not even a week since Conversa Kombial had aired their segment about John of God's alleged crimes. The search warrant covered all of Joo's homes. According to the newspaper Folia de so Paulo, he had 27 properties listed under his name in Abadiana alone, as well as a plane and even a mining site. Luciano says the task force had to coordinate the searches carefully so they could happen at the exact same time. That way no one would have a chance to hide things or destroy evidence. Two days later, a judge issued the warrants to search Joo's homes and for his arrest. The task force kicked their plan into motion. Luciano was with the team that searched Joo's main house in Annapolis, the closest city to Abadianya Iaib Laf.

[Luciano Miranda]

And there, in total, we found firearms, ammunition, a lot of cash, something that is not common. It was more than one and a half million reais

[Martina Castro]

at the time, that was equivalent to almost US$400,000, and it was in several different currencies.

[Luciano Miranda]

The money was scattered among drawers and underw. It caught our attention because it wasn't like it was in a safe. It seemed like it was simply thrown around the house, and it was a gigantic amount.

[Martina Castro]

O Globlobo later reported that in the days before the warrants were issued, Joao had moved 35 million reais from his bank accounts and investments. That's like $9 million at the time. That's why the task force was in such a rush to request a warrant for his arrest. But when news of the warrant went public, Joao was nowhere to be found. After briefly appearing at the Casa where he declared that he was innocent, he kind of disappeared for a few days. It was unclear if he was going to turn himself in until four days later, Joo and his lawyer pull up on the side of a dirt road. They're not alone. Monica Bergamo, a very prominent journalist from the newspaper Foglia de so Paulo, is in the middle of an exclusive interview with Joo. She's recording on her cell phone when they decide to pull over next to police vehicles. That's when it becomes clear Joo is turning himself in. In this audio clip from the video Monika recorded and later shared with Globo, you can hear her ask Joo why he waited until now to turn himself in. And as he walks to the police car, holding his lawyer's hand, Joao says to her. He says, I'm turning myself over to heavenly justice and the justice here on earth as promised.

[Amanda Knox]

In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief.

[Luciano Miranda]

The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history.

[Amanda Knox]

Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict. A villain. A nurse named Lucy Letby.

[Zaheeda Maus]

Lucy Letby has been found guilty.

[Amanda Knox]

But what if we didn't get the whole story?

[Luciano Miranda]

The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses.

[Amanda Knox]

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, you doubt the case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was.

[Martina Castro]

No voicing of any skepticism or doubt.

[Luciano Miranda]

It'll cause so much harm at every

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

single level of the British establishment of this is wrong.

[Amanda Knox]

Listen to Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside.

[Luciano Miranda]

This is Special Agent Riegel, Special Agent Bradley Hall.

[Host (Sixth Bureau)]

This MSS officer has no idea the US Government is onto him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast.

[Luciano Miranda]

I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer. No doubt, no question of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

[Host (Sixth Bureau)]

Listen to the 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robay]

Hi, I'm Danielle Robay, host of Bookmarked, the podcast by Reese's Book Club. And this week on Bookmarked, we're basically hosting the Ultimate Girls Night. Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Rita Wilson, Angari Rice, and author Laura Dave. These are the women behind season two of the Apple TV series. The last thing he told me. We're talking about turning a book into a hit show and what it really takes to bring a story to life.

[Amanda Knox]

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.

[Danielle Robay]

Listen to the Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Martina Castro]

Remember, Joao was beloved by many in Brazil, and he had very influential friends. There had been reports of three different Brazilian presidents and at least one Supreme Court judge going to see him. And then there were the thousands of people who considered themselves his followers. As you can imagine, for many of them, it was a great injustice for Joao to get taken into custody. Thanks to this recording, all of them got to watch that injustice unfold. This dramatic scene helped paint Joao as a victim of this situation. But Camila Appel from Conversa Combiad says there was another element at play we

[Zaheeda Maus]

have a culture of disbelieving the word of the victim. People say, is that so? But didn't you do something that made him think that you actually wanted sex? And that's very common.

[Martina Castro]

Joo's own defense team circulated rumors to fan the flames of distrust, especially when it came to the main person who came forward with her story and showed her face.

[Zaheeda Maus]

Zaheeda Maus, John of God's defense, tried to take Zaheeda's word down in all kinds, in all. Always possible. And I don't believe. How can we have this kind of law system, a defense lawyer just come and invent stuff about someone. They said she was a prostitute, Zaheed, I mean, even if she was, of course, but she's not.

[Martina Castro]

They also said Zaheeda was extorting John of God and that she invented her story as revenge when he didn't want to pay her.

[Zaheeda Maus]

The strategy that they use to take the credibility away from the woman who is denouncing the man.

[Martina Castro]

They even tried to investigate and discredit Camila. She heard people were circulating her photo in Abadianya. She wasn't scared, but her father was, especially at the beginning of her investigation, before the news went public.

[Zaheeda Maus]

He rented a bulletproof car for me to drive during that period, because a friend of him said, look, if they want to kill her, they are going to do it in the traffic jam, pretending it's a robbery, right? So a bulletproof car just showed up at my door because my father was really scared. And I think I was until the. Until the segment went out. I was scared until then, because after

[Martina Castro]

the segment aired, no matter what Joao's followers and closest allies said to defend him, there was no turning back. His victims had finally found the strength to tell their own stories of abuse.

[Luciano Miranda]

Many women didn't even understand they had been abused until the press brought up the case.

[Martina Castro]

Now, they did understand what happened to them, and they wanted to talk. Luciano couldn't believe the amount of people who ended up reaching out to the task force.

[Luciano Miranda]

When it became clear that someone as powerful as Joao Teixeira could have an arrest warrant issued against them, that was like another reinforcement for the victims to seek us out. And it showed that he wasn't untouchable.

[Martina Castro]

In the end, over 300 victims contacted the task force force to say they had been sexually abused by John of God. 300. Some had stories of abuse that happened back in the 1980s. Others had been abused only a few months before.

[Luciano Miranda]

We had victims from practically every Brazilian state, victims from European countries as well. As from the United States, Australia,

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

there's

[Luciano Miranda]

a predominance there between 20 and 30 years old. But we have victims of all ages. There are reports of children, a teenage girl in a wheelchair that was abused by him.

[Martina Castro]

This was the largest sexual abuse case Luciano had ever encountered in terms of the amount of victims and span of time over which the abuse had occurred. But not all of these testimonies would end up in the formal case against Joao.

[Luciano Miranda]

We had over 300 victims that contacted us, but I can say more than half of those 300 their cases had already passed the prescriptive period.

[Martina Castro]

The prescriptive period is what Brazilian law calls the window of time the government has to press charges after a crime is committed.

[Luciano Miranda]

So even if the victim gives a statement and has evidence, the judicial system can't take action. If too much time has passed since the incident, the statute of limitations prevents.

[Martina Castro]

This is one of several aspects of this case that were going to make it one of the most challenging of Luciano's career. Take for example the fact that many cases of abuse took place while people were in line at the Casa and first meeting John of God.

[Luciano Miranda]

Every law book will say sexual abuse is a crime that will never be committed in a public square, in a public environment. That's where our first surprise came in. What was Jayate Sheda doing in that same line? Some of the victims were kneeling. He would take the victim's hand and bring it up to his penis. And the victim's own body covered the view of those behind it. Victim said to me, doctor, I couldn't believe that individual. He was talking to me, saying things, asking random questions and manipulating his genital organ. I just couldn't understand that situation. And it may seem like such a unique thing, but we have something like 40 reports like these from victims.

[Martina Castro]

Another challenge came when Luciano interviewed the victims, because witnesses would refer to John of God as Joao and as the entity, but they didn't consider them one and the same.

[Luciano Miranda]

So you were talking to Jharteshaida? No, it wasn't with Jehtesheda. The witnesses would respond, it was with the entity. But who was the entity? Wasn't it Draute? No, it wasn't. So I had some difficulty at the beginning to understand.

[Martina Castro]

Above all, Luciano was very aware of the fact that he was prosecuting one of the most powerful men in Brazil. He knew he would have to be meticulous as he built his case, and the argument he made in court would have to be absolutely airtight.

[Luciano Miranda]

In the case of Joao, we were very Careful not to make excessive accusations, not to be considered disproportionate and unreasonable. Because if you fail in a single detail, you can put at stake the whole investigation that was well conducted.

[Martina Castro]

Luciano knew for a fact this could happen when it came to Joo, because it already had. This is the second time Joo would be prosecuted for sexual abuse. The first time was back in 2013, in a case that set a precedent Luciano would have to overcome.

[Amanda Knox]

In 2023, a story gripped the UK evoking horror and disbelief.

[Luciano Miranda]

The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history.

[Amanda Knox]

Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict. A villain. A nurse named Lucy Letby.

[Zaheeda Maus]

Lucy Letby has been found guilty.

[Amanda Knox]

But what if we didn't get the whole story?

[Luciano Miranda]

The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses.

[Amanda Knox]

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was.

[Martina Castro]

No voicing of any skepticism or doubt.

[Luciano Miranda]

It'll cause so much harm at every

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

single level of the British establishment of this is wrong.

[Amanda Knox]

Listen to Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside.

[Luciano Miranda]

This is Special Agent Riegel, Special Agent Bradley Hall.

[Host (Sixth Bureau)]

This MSS officer has no idea the US Government is onto him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast.

[Luciano Miranda]

I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer. No doubt, no question of his life, and that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

[Host (Sixth Bureau)]

Listen to the 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robay]

Hi, I'm Danielle Robay, host of Bookmarked, the podcast by Reese's Book Club. And this week on Bookmarked, we're basically hosting the Ultimate Girls Night. Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Rita Wilson, Angari Rice, and author Laura Dave. These are the women behind season two of the Apple TV series. The last thing he told me. We're talking about turning a book into a hit. Show and what it really takes to bring a story to life.

[Amanda Knox]

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.

[Danielle Robay]

Listen to the bookmarked by Reese's Book Club podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Camila R.]

My name is Camila. I'm a lawyer. I live my entire life in Belorison. Chiminas Gerais. Gerais.

[Martina Castro]

This is Camila R. We're not sharing her full last name out of respect for her privacy. Camila grew up in a very close knit and very Catholic family.

[Camila R.]

We have always been a very spiritual family, always very close, very believing of something bigger.

[Martina Castro]

She was 16 when she first heard about John of God. At the time, she was suffering from a panic disorder that was pretty much taking over her life.

[Camila R.]

I was in high school and I wanted to hurt myself because I had the feeling that I wasn't able to breathe. And I started to have fear of the fear. It would become an endless cycle. I couldn't get better. I was going to a psychiatrist. I started to take very strong medications and I weighed 39 kilos. I became a toothpick. We couldn't get meat to get better.

[Martina Castro]

So when a family friend told them about John of God and how he was healing people in Abadiania, her mother said it was worth a try.

[Camila R.]

Out of desperation, she said, I'm going to take Camila. So we decided to go there. I think not even they believed. But if he was able to cure all those people the way people said, why wouldn't we go, right?

[Martina Castro]

So Camila went with her parents to Abadiania. She lined up with them to see John of God and remembers clearly what happened when it was her turn to talk to him.

[Camila R.]

I cried a lot, lot, a lot. And I don't know why, but it was very common because of my panic disorder. It was all very comm. And then he said that my case was serious.

[Martina Castro]

So John of God told her to sit and pray with the others in the room and to return in the afternoon. She returned, and when she saw John of God again, this time he told her to go see him in his office. Camila went with her father.

[Camila R.]

My whole life, my father, he was always very protective. I never slept at a friend's house. I never went out anywhere. He asked me if I wanted him to come in with me. Without thinking, I said, dad, you decide if you want to. And he obviously decided to go in with me.

[Martina Castro]

Camila has given very few interviews about what happened next. It's still very hard for her to relive that experience or to even speak about it. So we told her it wasn't necessary to describe it for us. The journalist Christina Phoebe, who wrote about Camila's experience in her book, told us about her case. So she summarizes what happened once Camila and her father went inside John of God's office.

[J]

He closed the door, locked the door, told her father to turn around and be with his eyes closed. And then he got very close to Camila, who was 16, and he told her to close her eyes too. And he started to, you know, his hands going through her, like, going through her breasts and her lower parts. And she was stiff, she couldn't move. She froze. And she was crying really, really loud. And her father thought, well, she's having panic attacks. We are here to solve this problem. It's very normal that she cries. And Joan of God was at the same time that he was touching her, he was reinforcing. Close your eyes, Father. Don't look, Father. You know, because he said, and he said that to many victims, that if you open your eyes or if you do something, you would interrupt the cure flux, the energy going there.

[Martina Castro]

After it all ended, Camila couldn't bring herself to say anything. She left with her father, just crying uncontrollably.

[Camila R.]

I was a girl. I was a virgin. But I knew it was wrong. In my head, it was a little confusing because he's such an important person. Everybody says he heals, that he's good, that he's a saint. How could this be happening to me? And I came back obviously worse than when I got there. I thought for a moment that. That God had abandoned me. I felt disgusted with myself, with my hands, with my body. And I wanted to die.

[Martina Castro]

At this point, Camila took the pills that they had bought at the Gaza, and she put them in a pile with all the clothes she wore that day. She then lit a match and set them all on fire. Her mother found her in that panicked state and asked her what was happening. And Camila decided to tell her everything.

[Camila R.]

My mother was devastated. My mother cried a lot. My mother became desperate. She called my father. My father arrived. He felt like the ground had fallen out from under him because he. He came in to protect me, and he couldn't do it. At first he scolded me, but I knew it was an act of desperation too. Why didn't I tell him right away, why didn't I say it right away? I couldn't do it. I wasn't understanding what was going on. Then we were talking, thinking, what should we do? We decided to go to the women's police station and report it.

[Martina Castro]

This kicked off a very arduous legal process. Unfortunately, that's common for victims of sexual abuse who decide to press charges. It took a tremendous toll on Camila. She had to endure medical examinations and tell the story multiple times of what happened to her, to authorities.

[Camila R.]

You know that when we went to make a complaint at the police station, ours was the first mas ju crim sexualum chenenum. There was a criminal charge for fraud, but not for sexual crimes.

[Martina Castro]

Meanwhile, Camila developed seizures, and she was having a really difficult time sleeping. Her father was also receiving mysterious phone calls from people threatening him.

[Camila R.]

It was messages, calls that said things like, you don't know who you're messing with. You should stop with that. Things to that effect, you know.

[Martina Castro]

Four years after the abuse took place, it was finally time for the trial.

[Camila R.]

The lawyers on the other side made me feel as if I was wrong, as if it were part of a spiritual procedure. It was all very mechanical, very impersonal, you know, very cruel.

[Martina Castro]

Nine months after the hearing, Camila heard that the judge had made a decision. John of God was found not guilty.

[Camila R.]

And the judge who absolved him in the sentence, she said that she understood that the abuse happened, but that I wasn't in danger because my father was in the room. I could have asked him for help, basically saying I accepted it.

[Martina Castro]

The prosecution appealed, but they lost again that time because the defense argued Camila's panic disorder made her testimony unreliable.

[Camila R.]

I had lived years and years and years of my life thinking that I had been the one person chosen to live through this.

[Martina Castro]

Until almost a decade later.

[Camila R.]

And then I will never forget that day. I was at home. My father was in his room watching television. I was in the living room. My father called me. He said, look at what's on tv. And it was Zaheera talking on the BL show about the complaint of her case. At that moment, my heart raced. I started to feel sick. Because everything I believed in for years of my life, thinking that I was discredited, thinking that it was just me, there were other women who had experienced the same thing. And then my world changed overnight. It wasn't just me.

[Luciano Miranda]

In Camila's trial, if he had been convicted in that case, more than 100 victims would not have been abused.

[Martina Castro]

Eventually, Camila would end up talking to Luciano and the task force. Her case would prove instrumental to the prosecution's strategy.

[Luciano Miranda]

Because I studied Camila's case, I realized that it was the same judge who was assigned to our case.

[Martina Castro]

That's right. At trial, Luciano would face the same judge who a decade earlier found Joao innocent. Next time on Two Faced, John of God. Luciano and his team take John of God to court and we wrestle with the outcome of his case.

[Camila R.]

He hurt a lot of people. He caused a lot of pain and a lot of people who can't that they were unable to go on with their lives and turned a page. There's still tour groups there and I

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

just think it's terribly dangerous.

[Martina Castro]

People told me that he insists that

[Camila R.]

the entities are telling him he's gonna go back to the Kaza.

[Martina Castro]

So he's very, very clever. I mean, no successor.

[Zaheeda Maus]

I'm coming back.

[Martina Castro]

Hey, listen to Two Faced John of God on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts there. You can also find this show en Espanol. Just look for Dos Caras Juan de Dios. Two Faced John of God is a production of Exactly Right Media and Adonde Media, hosted and written by myself, Martina Castro. Our senior producer is Mariano Pachela. Reporting and fact checking by Iloi, Lisa Traiano, production assistance and research by Giovanna Romano Sanchez. Sound design by Mauricio Mendoza and our mastering engineer is Martin Cruz. Original music was composed by Mariana Romano. The artwork is by Vanessa Lilac. Luciano Miranda was interpreted by Andres Cavachero and Camila R by Laura Ubate for Exactly Right Media. The executive producers are Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer, with consulting producer Lily Latowig and associate producer Jay Elias. When this story broke, it led many people to realize they too had been victims of sexual violence. If you find that you need to talk to someone after hearing the stories we shared today, you can chat with someone for free and [e-mail] that's R A I N N. O R G. Everyone we spoke with for this podcast says the most important thing to do as a survivor is to use the power of your voice to get counseling and start the process of healing.

[Amanda Knox]

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, the Case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story?

[Martina Castro]

Evidence has been made to fit.

[Luciano Miranda]

The moment you look at the whole, whole picture of the case collapsed.

[Amanda Knox]

What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe?

[Martina Castro]

Oh, my God.

[Camila R.]

I think she might be innocent.

[Amanda Knox]

Listen to Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Luciano Miranda]

This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world.

[Host (Sixth Bureau)]

The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

[Narrator (Sixth Bureau)]

Listen to the 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Camila R.]

Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person?

[Host (Boys and Girls podcast)]

Welcome to the boys and girls podcast. Arranged marriage is basically a reality show, and you're auditioning for your soulma. And who's judging? Only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition, hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy, and a lot of cringe. Listen to boys and Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.