A $100,000 arrest warrant has been issued for a man charged with
sexually assaulting two women after he failed to appear for a court
hearing Thursday.
Hollister – A $100,000 arrest warrant has been issued for a man charged with sexually assaulting two women after he failed to appear for a court hearing Thursday.
Alvaro Salgado Ramos, 36, had been charged by the district attorney’s office charged with one felony count of sexual battery and a misdemeanor count of the same charge.
Ramos, who met his alleged victims by purporting to be a spiritual healer, pleaded not guilty to the charges in July. He was arrested by Hollister police for the alleged rape of one of his clients after another woman had previously reported that the Colombian native touched her inappropriately in a sexual manner during a session, according to police.
Public Defender Greg La Forge had not heard from his client and had no idea if he was still in the area. Ramos was released from custody at the San Benito County Jail after a judge let him out on his own recognizance two weeks ago, La Forge said.
“The sad thing is that we were prepared to defend this case,” La Forge said. “He’s not guilty of the charges and we were ready to go into court to prove it.”
Ramos supposedly specialized in curing bad luck, dispelling curses, making people lucky in love and curing other ailments. His July arrest wasn’t the first time Ramos had a sexual misconduct charge leveled against him.
In June, a Hollister woman reported Ramos touched her inappropriately in a sexual manner during a session, according to police. After reporting the alleged crime to police, officers arrested Ramos and he was released from the county jail on bail.
About a month later the second woman reported Ramos allegedly raped her during a session, and police arrested Ramos on July 7 for the felony sex crime as he was entering the courthouse to appear on the prior charge, police said.
While Ramos told police at the time of his arrest that he had been working as a spiritual healer at the “Centro Mundial Botanico” on Monterey Street for about a month, officers did not know how long he’d been in Hollister.
Police originally believed that there may have been more people assaulted by Ramos, but Hollister police spokesman George Ramirez said no one else came forward and detectives had no information about the man’s current whereabouts.
Anyone with information about Alvaro Ramos should contact the Hollister Police Department at (831) 636-4330.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
