Sect leader offered TV interview for bail money

BOSTON – The leader of an Attleboro religious sect offered a television interview in exchange for $100,000 bail money for a jailed sect member accused of killing her son, according to a published report.

Roland Robidoux, the leader of a religious group called “The Body” that eschews modern medicine and technology, made the overture to “Dateline” NBC producer Allison Orr, who had sought an interview with Robidoux’s daughter-in-law, Karen Robidoux, the Boston Herald reported Wednesday.

“In response to my request for an interview with Karen, Roland contacted me. He asked me if we would pay her bail in exchange for the interview,” Orr told the newspaper. “It’s our policy not to pay for interviews, so we declined.”

Karen Robidoux’s lawyer, Sam Sutter, said he was unaware of the cult’s alleged attempt to make a deal with “Dateline” and said he needed to speak with Robidoux before commenting.

Roland Robidoux’s son, Jacques, has been charged with first-degree murder and Karen Robidoux with second-degree murder in the starvation death of Samuel Robidoux shortly before his first birthday in 1999. Both have pleaded innocent.

They allegedly buried Samuel’s body in the woods of Maine’s Baxter State Park with that of Jeremiah Corneau, another couple’s child who died shortly after birth. No charges were filed in Jeremiah’s death.