Brother Tony's boys

About this book

Pentecostal evangelist Mario Ivan "Tony" Leyva was considered by many to be a true prophet of God. Clutching his black Bible, for over twenty-five years Brother Tony delivered mesmerizing sermons to millions of people. When he proclaimed his vision and version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Leyva's devoted followers readily gave their hard-earned dollars to one who, they thought, was clearly doing the Lord's work. But at the same time, Brother Tony used Christianity and his status as a respected Pentecostal evangelist and prophet of God to systematically and insidiously put an end to the childhood innocence of young adolescent boys in twenty-three states. This is the hard-hitting true crime story of how Leyva and his preacher cohorts seduced, sodomized, and pimped the young sons of hundreds of unsuspecting parents who came to hear them preach. How did it happen? How could this serial pederast get away with his crimes for so long without parents' knowing? And how could these crimes against nearly a thousand boys go undetected by law enforcement for over two decades? Based on his meticulous interviews with victims, their parents, and others, Mike Echols answers these and many other questions.