Claimed he was God

Couple accused of string of sex abuses
THOMPSON FALLS, Mont. (AP) - A Heron man who authorities say claimed he was God has been charged with a string of sex offenses after a family member recounted being abused and held in virtual isolation from society for years.James D. Guill, 54, faces six sex offenses in all. His common-law wife, Nicole Christensen Guill, 36, also is charged with four sex offenses. Both are being held on $1 million bail pending appearances in District Court later this week. They initially declined public defenders at a court hearing last week. It was not clear Tuesday whether they had hired private attorneys.Sanders County Attorney Bob Zimmerman said more charges against the two are likely.Guill and his common-law wife were arrested after the victim, now 22, told authorities she had escaped from the family property, where she claimed to have been sexually abused by Guill since the age of 6, court records said.She said Nicole Christensen Guill, who moved into the home after the sexual abuse started, began taking part in the abuse when the victim was about 14, court documents said.In court records, investigators said the victim told them the abuse continued until she was able to leave in mid-September.

The woman told a sheriff's deputy that Guill kept her isolated from outsiders and that she rarely left the property _ and then only in the presence of Guill or his wife. She said she'd never been to school, had very little knowledge of the outside world and was limited to reading only the Bible most of her life.In court documents, Zimmerman said the woman told investigators that Guill justified the sexual abuse by telling the victim he was God and "that he decided who would go to heaven and who would go to hell.""James Guill told (her) that if she ever told anyone what they were doing that she would go to hell," Zimmerman wrote.