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Solvejg Wastvedt

Inmate charged with beating former cult leader Victor Barnard

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Victor Barnard AP File
This June 18, 2016 photo provided by the Pine County Jail in Minnesota shows Victor Barnard. Barnard.
Pine County Jail via AP File

Authorities have brought charges against a man accused of assaulting former cult leader Victor Barnard in prison on January 8.

43-year-old inmate Shane Kringen was caught on video entering and leaving a cell at the Rush City prison in Chisago county, according to the complaint. An officer later found Barnard in the cell with multiple injuries including rib fractures and a traumatic brain injury. The complaint says Barnard was transported to Regions Hospital.

Kringen allegedly told authorities he "was doing God's work" as he was escorted from the area and admitted to assaulting Barnard in a letter that the prison later confiscated.

Barnard is in prison on sexual abuse charges stemming from a congregation he ran in rural Pine County.

Kringen has been charged with first degree assault. The Chisago county attorney's office says Kringen was serving a drug sentence and had been projected for release in August 2019.

Barnard's attorney said in an email that Barnard is currently being held at Oak Park Heights prison and has "significant and permanent injuries" from the assault.