Cult-related warrant served on Ohio storage unit
By The Associated Press
PONCHATOULA -- Ohio authorities who arrested a suspect in an alleged Louisiana cult that had sex with children and animals searched a storage unit where they found mattresses, videos and nine garbage bags full of costumes, according to a search warrant.
Nicole Bernard, wanted on a charge of aggravated rape, waived extradition Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and likely will return within 10 days to Louisiana, authorities said.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula, but a dozen or more people could be involved, said Laura Covington, a spokeswoman for the Tangipahoa Parish sheriff.
On Tuesday, crime scene experts from the FBI, along with police and sheriff's officers, dug behind the now-closed church with a backhoe.
"They're treating it as a crime scene and they're looking for evidence," Covington said. "There aren't any tips and they don't think there's anything down there, but they're just making sure."
Bernard's ex-husband, Austin Aaron Bernard, was arrested May 17 on a charge accusing him of making a girl under the age of 13 perform a sex act. Nicole Bernard was arrested Tuesday in Blacklick, Ohio, outside of Columbus.
Rape of a child under 13 is a capital offense in Louisiana.
Seven of the eight people arrested, including the church's pastor and a former sheriff's deputy, remain jailed without bond, Covington said. Lois Ann Mowbray, 54, of Ponchatoula, was released on $150,000 bond, she said. Mowbray was arrested on counts of obstruction of justice and failure to report a felony.
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