JAYESS, Miss. (AP) -- On a grassy meadow next to grazing horses, a large sign proclaims the Valley of the Kings to travelers passing along the only paved road in this southwest Mississippi town.
But two smaller, handmade signs just outside a wood fence and nearby red brick church let uninvited guests know they are not welcome at the religious enclave these days.
Church members posted the ``PRIVATE'' and ``KEEP OUT'' signs after the group's self-appointed pastor was arrested in March, accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy.
``Charges like these tend to shock a quiet, small county like ours,'' Sheriff Duane Dillon said.
Valley of the Kings Church patriarch David Earl King, 66, and Nathan Paul King, 32, believed to be King's adopted son, were indicted in April on charges of sexual battery, conspiracy to commit sexual battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Last week, David King's defense attorneys filed motions asking for a change of venue and requested he be tried separately from Nathan King.
A third man, Gary Lynn Bates, 21, of Denham Springs, La., has been arrested on related charges. All three have pleaded innocent.
David King called the charges ``all lies'' as he was led out of his bond hearing. Lawyers for King and Bates have refused to comment.
The 14-year-old's parents claim the Kings sexually abused their son and threatened to castrate him if he spoke of it, Dillon said.
The indictment includes a second possible victim, identified as an 11-year-old boy who alleges Nathan King attempted to have sex with him. Since the arrest, Dillon says at least eight people from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi have come forward, alleging sexual abuse by David King and church followers. Some allegations date back decades.
David King described the Valley of the Kings Church as ``an independent holiness church'' during the hearing. But Prosecutor Dunn Lampton called it a cult-like group, with the elder King as its patriarch.
``He's got an uncanny control over his congregation. He can tell them to do anything and they'll do it,'' said lawyer Conrad Mord, who has handled three previous cases involving the church.
David King was born in the Walthall County farming community and returned 23 years ago as a preacher with a large family and followers.
About 35 people now live on the church grounds, a 58-acre compound with a large house and a scattering of mobile homes flanked by elm and magnolia trees. The church basement doubles as a school for the children.
The closest town is Tylertown, with one traffic light and a population of about 1,900, about 15 miles from Louisiana's state line.
Authorities say King's followers make money selling peanut brittle door to door and, despite little interaction with the surrounding communities, neighbor's say the group is well known.
``There's always been something about that particular group'' that has drawn people's interest, said resident Sandra Peavey.
Some don't think highly of David King.
``We were all proud he was arrested just because of the stuff we had heard,'' said Charles L. Harvey, 64, referring to the sexual allegations.
Authorities said they seized more than $100,000 in cash, several weapons and pornographic magazines from David King's home.
The Kings were denied bond and remain jailed.
In the early 1980s, Mord said he won a custody case involving a Louisiana boy, whose mother sent her son to school at the compound. David King refused to return the boy, Mord said.
Two other boys alleged they'd been sexually abused but both recanted, Mord said. A judge removed them from King's custody.