San Clemente Man's Raw Egg Spiritual Cleansing Ends in Rape, Police Say

A 36-year-old San Clemente man was behind bars today on suspicion of raping a woman in a bizarre "spiritual cleansing" ritual in a Santa Ana motel room, police reported.

Alberto Flores-Ramirez was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a discount store during a police sting, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. Flores-Ramirez thought he was meeting with the alleged victim a second time, Bertagna said.

Flores-Ramirez and the 33-year-old Simi Valley woman initially met on the social networking site called Badoo, Bertagna said.

The woman told Flores-Ramirez that she was hoping to bring her two young children to the United States from Mexico, and he said he could help her with that if she underwent a "spiritual cleansing" ritual, Bertagna said.

The two met at a Santa Ana restaurant about 6 p.m. on April 3, Bertagna said. About 45 minutes later, they went to the Aloha Motel in the 2400 block of South Main Street, where he started the ritual that involved her lying on a bed and him cracking raw eggs in a glass, Bertagna alleged.

Flores-Ramirez allegedly told the woman "she has a lot of evil spirits and he has to perform the ceremony a second time, but she has to take her clothes off," Bertagna said.

The woman was uncomfortable with that, but eventually agreed to strip down to her underwear, Bertagna said.

Flores-Ramirez put an egg in his mouth and when he got close to her genitals, she got scared and told him to stop, leading him to choke and threaten her before raping her, Bertagna alleged.

The woman, whose name was withheld, went to police and reported the alleged rape, Bertagna said. Flores-Ramirez kept in touch with her via text messages and agreed to meet her at a discount store, where police were waiting to arrest him, Bertagna said.

Flores-Ramirez was being held in the Santa Ana jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, and also has an immigration hold, Bertagna said