Further charges brought against “Shaman” for sexual abuse of children

Additional charges were filed today against the shaman of an Inland Empire religious cult, accusing him of sexually abusing several young girls, and his arraignment has been postponed.

Ricardo Isaac Flores, 59, of Rialto was arrested last month following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Friday, prosecutors filed an amended criminal complaint against Flores with Superior Court Judge Walter Kubelun, adding three more counts to the original seven-count indictment.

The revised complaint alleges four counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, two counts of penetration of a minor under duress or fear, and one count each of rape, penetration with a foreign object, forced oral copulation of a minor, and aggravated sexual assault of a child.
with the aggravating charge of deliberately demanding multiple victims in a sexual crime.

Flores' lawyers requested a delay in his arraignment because of the new file and the need to review additional information from an investigative report. Kubelun postponed the hearing until Wednesday.

The defendant is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Sheriff Sergeant James Merrill said an investigation into Flores' alleged crimes began in early August when “multiple victims” showed up at the Moreno Valley sheriff's station saying they had been victims of crimes in Moreno Valley.

Merrill said investigators conducted further investigation and confirmed that the alleged assaults occurred not only on the Moreno Valley property, but “at locations throughout the county.”

According to the sergeant, Flores had access to the alleged victims, whose identities were not disclosed because he was “the religious leader of a shamanic community.”

Neither the specific sect nor the victims were identified.

The investigators also did not provide any further information about the circumstances of the alleged attacks.

Merrill said a warrant was obtained for the defendant's arrest and served on him at the border on the morning of August 7 as he was returning from a trip to Mexico.

Flores has no previous felony convictions in Riverside County.