U.S. announces sex-trafficking charges against Duterte's spiritual adviser

FILE PHOTO: International evangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy (2nd R) walks with presidential candidates attending his 60th birthday celebration in Davao City, southern Philippines April 25, 2010.REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo

(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday announced sex-trafficking charges alleging that girls and young women were coerced to have sex with the founder of a Philippines-based church who is a friend and adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte.

A 74-page indictment charges Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, founder of a church called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC) and other church officials, including two U.S.-based church administrators, with running a sex-trafficking operation that threatened victims as young as 12 with "eternal damnation" and physical abuse.