re: healing place/the church st amant scandal

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True Detective Season 1's Tuttle Cult was based on a real-life child sex abuse scandal in Hosanna Church, Louisiana. Here are the details of the case.

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Hosanna Church was one of the fastest-growing congregations in the cypress flats of Tangipahoa Parish, and its pastor at the time, Louis Lamonica, was hailed as a beloved community figure. Things took a murkier turn when it was revealed the church was involved in the sexual abuse of around 24 children, along with the mutilation of animals for ritualistic purposes. State authorities had their first brush with the scandal when a woman named Nicole Bernard called the sheriff’s office to say she had to flee town to save her child from sexual abuse at the hands of the church.

Soon after, nine people were arrested, and a dozen computers believed to contain child pornography were seized, along with dozens of videotapes found within the shattered church compound. Moreover, in the youth hall behind the sanctuary, the police found traces of a pentagram etched on the floor, along with testimonies of members participating in ritualistic killings whilst being masked and dressed in black robes, which clearly grants the case with motivations akin to religion-based, cult-like motivations, which is something the best episodes of True Detective season 1 explained.

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