NC Congregation Indicted for Allegedly Kidnapping, Beating Man to Rid Him of 'Gay Demons'

Five members of a church in North Carolina, who allegedly kidnapped and beat a fellow church member last year because he's gay in order to get "rid him of homosexual demons," were indicted this week, the Raw Story reports.

Matthew Fenner, a gay Christian, is going public about the alleged incident a year later, saying the group of at least five people, who are members of the World of Faith Fellowship church in Spindale, N.C., beat and strangled him because he's gay, in hopes that the attack would turn him straight.

The churchgoers, Sarah Covington Anderson; Adam Christopher Bartley; Brooke McFadden Covington; Justin Brock Covington and Robert Louis Walker Jr., have all been indicted on simple assault and kidnap charges, the Daily Mail points out. According to the Rutherford County Sheriff's office, Anderson has also been charged with assault by strangulation.

"I honestly thought I was going to die. My head was like being flung back, my vision was going brown and black," Fenner told WSPA, South Carolina's CBS-affiliate station. "I couldn't breathe and I'm sitting here thinking if I don't get out of this, I'm probably going to die."

In an affidavit, Fenner claims Anderson told him he was "disgusting" because he is gay. He said the beating he endured was supposed to "break me free of the homosexual 'demons.'"

He added that what happened to him wasn't an isolated incident and he hopes by coming forward it will show a pathway to the truth.

EDGE reported in 2012 Michael Lowry claimed leaders from the Word of Faith Fellowship church held him captive for four months against his will in 2011 because he is gay. The young man said he was kept against his will in a church building from Aug. 1 to Nov. 19, 2011 and told investigators that on his first day of being confined he was knocked unconscious. He compared his experiences to being put in jail.

WSPA reports he later recanted his allegations, however.

The attorney for the World of Faith Fellowship, Josh Farmer, says Fenner was never hurt and the five churchgoers charged of harming him are "innocent of the charges leveled against them."

"We are adamant that no one ever physically harmed Mr. Fenner," Farmer told WSPA. "The church does not target members who are gay."

The grand jury met on Monday and Fenner said his mother and brother, who still belong to the church, were two witnesses who testified against him.

On Wednesday, Fenner took to Facebook to thank people for the support he's received:

"I just want to say that I am extremely thankful for all of the kind words and support that I have received thus far. I am so grateful for my family, my dearest friends, and those who I have just come into contact with for sticking with me through this and for being there in this battle. This is going to be a long road, but I feel that the truth will ultimately prevail, and regardless of the outcome, we will stand our ground and continue on!"

Watch a clip by "Inside Edition" from 1995 about the church's alleged "cult-like behavior" below: