An Inland Empire “shaman” accused of sexually assaulting several young girls must stand trial on a dozen felony charges, a judge ruled Thursday.
Ricardo Isaac Flores, 60, of Rialto was arrested last year following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
On Thursday, at the end of a preliminary hearing that spanned more than two days, Superior Court Judge Brian Hill found there was sufficient evidence to bound Flores over for trial on four counts of lewd acts on a child, four counts of penetration under duress or fear, two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count each of forcible rape and aggravated sexual assault of a minor, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting multiple victims in a sex crime.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Jan. 22 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and ordered that the defendant remain held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Sheriff’s Sgt. James Merrill said an investigation into Flores’ alleged offenses began at the start of August 2024, when “multiple victims” appeared at the sheriff’s Moreno Valley station, saying they had been victimized “at a residence in the 26000 block of Sandi Lane.”
Merrill said detectives probed further and confirmed alleged assaults occurred not only at the Sandi Lane property, but “locations throughout the county.”
Flores had access to the alleged victims, whose identities were not disclosed, as a result of his being “the religious leader of a shamanistic community,” according to the sergeant.
The specific sect was not identified, nor were the victims. Investigators also did not detail the circumstances behind the alleged assaults.
Merrill said that a warrant was obtained for the defendant’s arrest, and it was served on him the morning of Aug. 7, 2024, at the U.S.-Mexico border as he returned from a trip south of the border.
Flores has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.