Opulent oppression: Wife says alleged cult leader controlled her for decades
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MARTINEZ, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The head of an alleged cult kept his wife from working for 37 years, had her restrained to keep her from leaving their palatial home and committed adultery, she alleges in court filings.
Her filings for a temporary protective order and a divorce offer a glimpse into their luxurious but apparently tumultuous life at an 11,000-square-foot mansion in Columbia County’s exclusive West Lake neighborhood.
Among her requests were that she be granted use of their Rolls-Royce and he pay her back for a ruined Chanel purse.
The FBI on Wednesday raided the nearly $2 million home at 3816 Honors Way, arresting the leader of the House of Prayer Christian Church.
He goes by the name Rony Denis, but authorities say he stole that identity in 1983, so they don’t know his true name.
He and seven other church leaders are named in a federal indictment accusing them of various financial crimes that benefited themselves and a church, which some call a cult that targeted veterans in a scheme to soak up their benefits.
Marjorie Denis filed for the temporary protective order against her husband on Jan. 17, 2024, according to court documents obtained by News 12.
She asked that the court order Rony Denis to stay away from their home and child.
She said that the day before she filed for the order, her husband brought in six people “to hold us down and subdue us by force.”
It’s not clear in that entry who she meant by “us,” but she does note elsewhere in the filing that she and Rony Denis had a child living in the home.
Content retrieved from: https://www.wrdw.com/2025/09/11/opulent-oppression-wife-says-alleged-cult-leader-controlled-her-decades/.
