STOCKTON, Calif. – The victim of an apparent kidnapping willfully got into a vehicle with her ex-husband and son under the pretense of fixing a broken marriage. But according to TV station KCRA, Jose Magana-Farias and his son, Victor Farias, abducted her for an exorcism because they believed she was possessed by demons.
The incident happened last Saturday after the parties agreed to meet at a Walmart. Lieutenant Mike Jones with the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department told KCRA the Farias’ believed the ex-wife had undergone drastic changes that resulted in unusual behavior.
She wasn’t the Farias’ only passenger, before the exorcism they picked up two priests en route to a church. There the victim underwent a religious ritual and was doused with sacred oil for purification. But the plot began to unravel when the victim’s roommate alerted police to the possible kidnapping.
Police arrested both Jose and Victor who each face four charges that include kidnapping, false imprisonment by violence (one felony count and one misdemeanor count) and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. Jose has an additional United States Border Patrol felony charge pending against him. They both make court appearances on Wednesday and are held in detention on $513,000 bail.
Police told KCRA that the victimized ex-wife was not tortured and was found unharmed. The priests involved don’t face any criminal charges despite their apparent compliance as accomplices to the kidnapping plot.
