Voodoo priest raped woman at knifepoint twice, Miami police say

MIAMI – A Miami man is facing three felony charges after police accused him of raping a woman at knifepoint twice.

Miami police arrested Francisco Armenteros Palacios, 56, Sunday evening. An arrest report lists his occupation as “voodoo priest.”

According to the report, Armenteros Palacios and the woman were drinking at a home on Northwest 18th Street in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood early Sunday morning, when he asked the victim for oral sex.

As Armenteros Palacios “continuously” insisted, police said the woman told him no and explained that the two were “just friends.”

“You will have sex with me,” he replied, according to the report.

Police said the victim began packing her belongings to leave but the door of the home was locked and she could not find the key.

According to police, that’s when Armenteros Palacios took out a pocketknife and told the woman “you’re going to have sex with me.”

The victim ran to the bathroom, but Armenteros Palacios told her to open the door, or he would “kick it in,” detectives wrote.

Knife in hand, he ordered her to remove her clothes and proceeded to rape her, the report states.

Police said after a few minutes, the victim “begged” him to stop, which he did.

Officers wrote that the victim put her clothes on, began packing again and asked Armenteros Palacios to open the door so she could leave.

That’s when police say he pulled out the knife again and told her to “return to the bedroom” because he was “not finished.”

Armenteros Palacios raped the woman again, police wrote.

After finishing, she put her clothes on and packed her bags and Armenteros Palacios told her where the key was so she could leave, the report states.

Police said the victim then contacted law enforcement.

The report states that during police questioning, Armenteros Palacios first said the woman left on her own after drinking for a few hours, then changed his story to say the two had “consensual” sex after drinking.

Police wrote that Armenteros Palacios then changed his story for a second time, saying the two got into an argument after having sex and the woman left.

Armenteros Palacios told police he didn’t own a pocketknife and they “would not find one if (the detective) were to search,” according to the report.

The report states he then went into his pocket, threw a set of keys onto the interview table and told police: “Search.”

Police did so, obtaining a search warrant of the home, and found the pocketknife in the kitchen cabinet “hidden under numerous plastic bags.”

Armenteros Palacios was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

He faces two counts of armed sexual battery and one count of false imprisonment with a deadly weapon.