Leaders Of Controversial Uxbridge Church Arrested
UXBRIDGE (CBS) - You can find Pastor David Stanley on YouTube, performing exorcisms at the church he runs with his brother in Uxbridge – under the same roof as their driveway paving business.
"It's definitely a cult," says their mother.
Andrea Gault stood outside Uxbridge District Court this morning, as sons David and Dennis faced charges of resisting arrest and disturbing the peace.
"I just don't know what to do except try to bring the church down," says Gault. "I love my sons. But I pray this nightmare will be over soon."
Critics contend the "Church of the End Times" has strayed from religion to perversion – including brainwashing, rituals, and worse.
Beth Stanley just got a restraining order against husband Dennis – her old high school sweetheart – with whom she thought she had the perfect life.
"When your husband brings home 10 girls and tells you to sleep downstairs while he sleeps upstairs with them – you realize it's the end," Beth Stanley says as she fights back tears.
Thing is, she doesn't just mean the marriage.
She's also talking about a church that she describes as once pure and Christian.
Her husband argues such lies are about divorce leverage.
"It's just her being greedy," Dennis Stanley says. "She's trying to get the house, the money – and everything else. This is her way of going about doing it."
"He's been brainwashed by his brother," counters wife Beth. "He wants to live the life of a rock star – adored by many women through that fan club at church."
Police say townspeople have expressed concerns about the Stanley brothers' seemingly bizarre church activities for years, but officers got a firsthand dose at Dennis Stanley's house on Murphy's Way earlier this week.
Those officers – trying to enforce the restraining order – say the brothers triggered a tense standoff – prompting them to call for backup.
The officers' reports claim the brothers were shouting that they "did not recognize our authority" and were "not bowing to men."
The next day police evicted seven teenage girls from the house.
"I never threatened any cops," says David Stanley. "I prayed. I felt what they were doing was illegal. I tried to mediate."
The church pastor says he's trying to minister to troubled young people – not groom a cult following.
"Jesus is Lord – not David," he continues. "If we were a cult, then David would have to be God. No one is being controlled. No one's been asked to do anything."
But Uxbridge Police – amid growing skepticism – acknowledge they are now looking deeper.
Two women, who were recently arrested driving a car full of stolen jewelry, cell phones, and painkillers in neighboring Sutton, gave the "Church of the End Times" as their home address.
Police have linked the pair to 10 burglaries.
"It's just the church right now isn't a church," says Andrea Gault of her sons' ministry. "It's a crazy, crazy, crazy place."
A place – she says – far darker than the exorcisms and sermons on "YouTube."
