Prague police charge self-proclaimed healer with raping clients

Prague police have charged a 49-year-old self-styled healer with rape and sexual coercion, alleging that he abused female clients while presenting his actions as treatment for trauma and serious illnesses.

The man is in custody and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Investigators have identified nine women who they say were raped despite explicitly refusing consent, and believe there may be further victims.

Police arrested him Oct. 16 during another gathering in Zásmuky, Central Bohemia. They announced the charges Thursday and appealed to other women with similar experiences to contact investigators.

According to the police statement, the suspect claimed to have developed a method called CIT, short for Celostní intuitivní terapie, or holistic intuitive therapy.

He told clients it could treat trauma accumulated during past lives. Police say he also promised to cure conditions including cancer, leukemia and brain tumors.

The purported treatment involved inflicting severe pain on intimate parts of clients’ bodies, investigators allege.

Police spokesman Richard Hrdina said the man presented himself as a higher being sent to Earth to initiate a process of renewal. He allegedly promised some women immortality.

These were claims attributed to the suspect, rather than established therapeutic methods or medical findings.

Police say he had organized group gatherings involving drugs since at least 2021, mainly in Prague 6. Other events allegedly took place in Central Bohemia and in Nový Hrozenkov in the Vsetín area.

At the gatherings, he allegedly gave clients a brew made from a South American plant containing DMT, a prohibited substance with strong psychedelic effects.

Detectives detained the suspect with assistance from a specialist public order unit while he was holding an event with an associate in Zásmuky.

Police subsequently charged the alleged healer, his associate and a woman whom investigators believe was also involved. The announcement did not detail the charges against the other two people.

The investigation has so far identified nine alleged rape victims. Police stressed that the number could rise as further women come forward.

Detectives are asking anyone who has had a similar experience with the man to call 158, the Czech police emergency number.

The allegations remain under investigation. The charges and the suspect’s detention do not constitute a finding of guilt.