João Teixeira de Faria

Uncommon card · No. 169859

João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon. He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks, and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects. In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In the following years, he was found guilty of a number of different crimes, including illegal firearm possession and statutory rape. The sentences add up to 489 years and 4 months in prison.

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