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Rafael Paulino, center, is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl during what he described to detectives as a "spiritual cleansing."

(Staten Island Advance/Michael Oates)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A "spiritual reader" from Port Richmond is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl by rubbing her body with raw steak and molesting her during a supposed ritual to ward off evil spirits.

Rafael Paulino, 42, conducted what he described to detectives as a "spiritual cleansing" inside an apartment on Scribner Avenue in New Brighton, authorities allege.

Paulino, who lives on Bryson Avenue, has a business card with the name Omi Chango', an image of Christ, and the words "priest" and "spiritual leader" printed on it, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.

The source couldn't say if "Omi Chango'" was meant to be an assumed name, or a reference to "Chango," a deity worshiped by followers of Santeria.

According to prosecutors, Paulino had met with a female relative of the girl, who paid him $121 to spiritually cleanse her as well.

In a criminal complaint filed against Paulino, authorities allege that "he claimed he would remove the evil spirits from them, and that an evil spirit was making (the 15-year-old girl) depressed."

He told the girl's relative "that he would rub raw meat on their bodies and pour water on them after he had cut their clothes off in order to spiritually cleanse them and that this was not for entertainment or amusement," the complaint alleges.

On Feb. 24, Paulino performed the ritual on the teen, the complaint alleges. He told her to stand in a bathtub, cut off her clothes and underwear, and rubbed the meat on her "intimate parts," the complaint alleges.

Paulino also kissed and touched her in a sexual nature, the complaint alleges.

The girl told her relative what happened, and the relative contacted police, sparking an investigation by the NYPD's Staten Island Special Victims Squad, according to the law enforcement source.

In statements to police, Paulino described the purpose of his actions, the law enforcement source said: "The spiritual cleansings are to get rid of the evil spirits and to make the body clean and pure... I don't wear gloves. The purpose of the meat is to act as a barrier... The meat takes all the evil spirits from the body, and then I discard the meat in either the cemetery, the garbage, or in the corner."

He said any perceived sexual contact that took place was accidental, the source said.

Paulino - who received five years' probation after a 1992 attempted robbery conviction in Brooklyn - was arraigned Wednesday in Stapleton Criminal Court.

He's charged with fourth-degree aggravated sexual abuse, two counts each of second-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching, and single counts of endangering the welfare of a child and fortune-telling, according to information from District Attorney Daniel Donovan's office.

The most serious charge, fourth-degree aggravated sexual abuse, carries a maximum four-year prison term if he's convicted at trial.

His Legal Aid attorney, John Poppe, asked for Paulino to be released on his own recognizance, stating that he wasn't a flight risk and had a job as an operating engineer and two children to support.

Judge Alan J. Meyer ordered him held on $15,000 bail until his return to court Tuesday.