Jaroslav Dobe?
According to the Czech Police Presidium, two Czech citizens convicted in absentia for sex-related crimes were arrested in a seaside town in the Philippines on May 15. Jaroslav Dobe?, 44, and Barbora Plá?ková, 40, were both subjects of an international arrest warrant. They are now being held by Philippines immigration officials, a police spokesman stated.
“Both were sentenced in absentia to many years imprisonment by a Zlín court for sexual offenses. We were informed about the detained persons by our embassy in Manila and by the [Czech] criminal police unit and Police Presidium investigators, who were actively involved in the manhunt. Currently, negotiations are taking place on the deportation of the two parties back to the Czech Republic. For tactical reasons, we will not be giving out further information,” Police Presidium spokesman David Sch?n said in a statement.
Representatives of the Immigration Office Manila, Surigao del Norte Intelligence Police Unit and a provincial public safety company arrested one or both of them in Dapa, a town on the coast of Mindanao.
Dobe?, who went by the names “Guru Jára,” “Om” and “Uber Alpha Male,” ran a cult at a so-called convent in Zlín in southern Moravia. He is accused of raping more than 300 women between 2002 and 2007 under the pretext that it would be spiritually healing. He also charged the women money equivalent to thousands of dollars for his services, and is alleged to have used high pressure tactics.
He also used esoteric practices as a cover, giving seminars in yoga, astrology, feng shui and tantra and began calling himself a guru in 1996.
The Zlín convent was established in 2002 under the name Poetrie. He was accused in court of forcible sex that would follow a ceremony involving circling his victim with crystals and breathing excercises. This was supposed to free the victim of stored up negative energy. The so-called "unhooking" of negative energy required multiple sessions, according to victim's testimony.
One victim came forward when she realized that the sessions were not helping her and she had been conned.
A Czech court on October 2014 sentenced Dobe? in absentia to 10 years for raping at least eight women in 2004 and 2005. His assistant Plá?ková was sentenced to nine and a half years for adding and abetting him. Both were reportedly in Thailand at the time of the trial. Dobe? and Plá?ková reportedly set up similar cults in Asia.
During the Zlín trial, a psychologist testified the women suffered from post traumatic distress syndrome (PTSD) due to their ordeal. The lawyer for Dobe? claimed the encounters were consensual.
The judge held that the couple targeted only vulnerable and attractive young women who could help them financially, and that the goal of the treatment was not spiritual help but sex and financial gain.
