Christian church leader sentenced to 120 years in prison for 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material.
The leader of a Christian church shrouded in secrecy has been sentenced to 120 years in prison for 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material. Known as the 2x2 Church, the sect has denied wrongdoing for years.
Raymond Zwiefelhofer, 61, worked as a tech CEO in Arizona. According to ex-members of the 2x2 Church, Zwiefelhofer was also an “elder in the community” of the religious sect for decades.
“An elder leads a group of members in their home through church services,” private investigator Cynthia Liles told ABC News. “I would say there are almost always children present in the home meetings.” Liles has dedicated a particular focus to the 2x2 Church throughout the years, working closely with the FBI on uncovering allegations of abuse.
“The 2x2 Church has a significant problem with child sexual abuse,” Liles said. “It’s systemic.” She has already notified the FBI of over a thousand accounts of child sex abuse and sexual assault within the 2x2 community.
The secretive nature of the church and its unique methods of operation have raised concerns for years. Ministers of the church are known as “workers, [who] live with members in their homes, usually for a few days at a time.”
Former members say some of the church leadership knew about abuse allegations, but did not report it to the proper authorities.
Instead, the leadership would often relocate alleged abusers to different states.
While there is no singular head of the church, “overseers” are the dozen or so men who lead the 2x2 Church. Former and current overseers continue to deny that widespread sexual abuse has been taking place within their communities.
In total, Zwiefelhofer posessed 87 files that were determined to be child sexual abuse material. This included a combination of photos and videos depicting children under the age of 15 engaged in either “exploitive exhibition or sexual conduct.”
“I'm not guilty. Again, I like to get that – make that clear,” Zwiefelhofer said during his sentencing hearing. “I would love to know how the jury found that I knowingly did this.”
Still, the scope of the investigation reaches farther than expected. “Raymond Zwiefelhofer is one of most likely thousands,” Cynthia Liles said. “We're getting reports of child sex abuse and sex assault committed by the highest level in leadership down to the regular members.”
ABC News reached out to Zwiefelhofer’s attorney multiple times for comment and did not receive a response.
Authors: Alexis Kabat and Andy Goldwasser
