A Salt Lake City man who advertised himself on the radio as a “healer” has been accused of sexually abusing his clients.
Prosecutors have charged Jairo Cesar Vasquez Garzon, 57, with three counts of forcible sexual abuse, all second-degree felonies, and one count of object rape, a first-degree felony, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Tuesday.
According to court documents, Garzon abused women who came to him for his services. Along with being a “healer,” the district attorney’s office said he was a tarot card reader with a group called “Misioneros de la Luz” — “Missionaries of the Light” — and went by the name “Rafael El Brujo Mayor,” Spanish for “Rafael The Grand Warlock.”
A warrant has been issued for Vasquez Garzon’s arrest, according to court documents.
In the announcement, Gill’s office said prosecutors believe Vasquez Garzon may have abused others. The district attorney’s office is asking anyone who faced similar abuse to call the Salt Lake City Police’s non-emergency number: 801-840-4000.
In the charging document, prosecutors said one of the women who went to Vasquez Garzon lost consciousness after she was sprayed with a liquid — and that she awoke to him touching her sexually.
During a tarot reading, the charging document said, he told another woman “anything that happens in the room is to be kept in the room” and “no one needs to know what happens in the room,” before asking her to come back a week later to finish the reading. At the follow-up appointment, according to the document, she said he touched her sexually even after she told him to stop.
The charge of object rape carries a possible sentence of 5 years to life in prison. The three forcible sexual abuse charges carry potential sentences of 1-to-15 years in prison.