'Divine master' charged with allegedly sexually molesting boys in voodoo ritual cleansing

SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of sexually molesting 12- and 13-year-old brothers under the pretense of "spiritually cleansing" their mother's home has been charged with multiple counts of sodomy and aggravated sex abuse against a child.

Police set up a sting to catch 22-year-old Jose David Morales-Hernandez on Wednesday when he arrived at the home of the victims believing he was going to perform what police call a voodoo ritual. He was dressed as a woman when police arrested him.

Morales-Hernandez, who was referred to the victims by a friend, told them he was a "divine master" and could cleanse their house, South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller said.

From March 24-26 he visited the victim's house and had the mother and her two boys strip to their underwear as part of the house-cleansing process. Police said he would take the boys individually into a back room, close the door and then molest them.

According to charges filed in the 3rd District Court Friday, the 12-year-old boy said the defendant took him into his bedroom alone with the lights off, locked the door and touched him inappropriately on three separate occasions.

His 13-year-old brother said in charges that the defendant did "unpleasant, wrong, uncomfortable and weird" things to him, touching him inappropriately multiple times on March 25 and 26.

Morales-Hernandez was charged with four counts of sodomy upon a child and five counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies.

The defendant is currently booked into Salt Lake County Jail on $100,000 bail.

— Lana Groves