Sheriff: Hemet Man Got Young Women To Strip For 'Religious Ceremony'

HEMET (CBS) — Authorities say a 41-year-old Hemet man was persuading young women, some of whom were minors, to strip nude for photographs as part of a self-proclaimed religious ceremony.

Efrain Bernal was arrested Wednesday, after sheriff's deputies got a report of possible sexual misconduct. Deputies searched Bernal's home and interviewed members of the household, discovering that he had been sexually abusing an adult female family member since she was a child over the span of 10 years, according to a sheriff's department report.

"I always had a feeling something was off about him, but I just kinda pushed it in the back of my head because it's not something you want to believe about your father," Destiny Audish told CBS2/KCAL9's Greg Mills.

Audish says the allegations are true, but that the girl who was sexually abused for 10 years is OK now.

After searching Bernal's home, police found pornographic pictures of girls under the age of 18 they believe were shot by Bernal.

Bernal's daughter said that her father conducted Bible services at their home and that she was beginning to feel uneasy about how closer he was getting to some of the girls he was supposed to be ministering to.

"You know, he would use God as a way for them to just wanna trust him, to believe him," Audish said.

Bernal was booked on several sexual abuse-related crimes including continued sexual abuse of a child and sodomy with a child under 10. He is being held on $1 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Riverside.

Bernal is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Anyone with information about Bernal can call the Hemet Sheriff's Station at (951) 791-3400.