Mexican ’emotional coach’ Ricardo Ponce is denounced for sexual abuse

Quintana Roo -- Youtuber Maire Wink made public a complaint against the Mexican “emotional coach” Ricardo Ponce, who through “spiritual retreats” in Bacalar, Tulum and Cancun allegedly formed sexual sects. In the video published on her social networks, entitled “I fell into the sexual sect of Ricardo Ponce”, the young woman exposes the case that occurred in February of this year, when she participated in a “spiritual retreat”.

Feminist groups pointed out the need to make these situations visible so that abusers do not go unpunished. Ricardo Ponce, for his part, published on social networks that he will prove his innocence with “facts and not speculations.”

“I discovered murky things about that retreat that I did not want someone else to experience, much less someone who goes there on my recommendation (…) I fell into what I consider a sex cult disguised as spiritual healing,” said Maire Wink.

Four other people participate in the video who relate various events in relation to Ricardo Ponce, self-called “the creator of self-healing”, whom Maire Wink describes as a kind of “guru who bases his philosophy on the feeling of dense emotions such as anger and sadness ”.

The YouTuber declared that the lecturer Ricardo Ponce eloquently manipulates the feelings of the people who attend his retreats, which cost from 55,000 to 71,000 pesos.

In February of this year, the YouTuber was invited by the speaker to a retreat in Bacalar, called “The heart chakra”, where she met the staff who accompany him and who he describes as “super pretty.”

She points out that on the first day, the “therapy” consisted of talking about relationships with female figures and that from the first moment the “talk turned sexual”, which later became what she describes as a sexual sect, which included “VIP guests” who were videotaped without their consent.

Another of the women describes that the lecturer abused his position of power to have sexual relations, assuming that it was a sex cult disguised as “healing”, and the testimony of a man is included, who assures that Ponce has a “harem” in Cancun, Quintana Roo.

On social media, Maire Wink created the hashtag #MeTooRicardoPonce, which led to the support of many women.

For Tania Ramírez, from the feminist group ‘Siempre Unidas’, it is very important to make these cases visible, as they show that abuses occur at all levels: “they take advantage of the vulnerability of women, of someone who is seeking to heal because perhaps they have a very low self-esteem or other kinds of problems, and he convinces them that they should let themselves be loved, he uses love and sexuality to make them believe that by sleeping with him they will heal ”.

These cases involve people with high purchasing power, so most of them do not want to make their denounces public. Many more do not dare to denounce because they are professionals and that is why they choose to keep quiet or avoid the issue”, she said. 

Through his Instagram account, Ricardo Ponce, “creator of self-healing”, issued a brief announcement: “If I have not spoken up until now, it is because I will go out to communicate my position with facts and not with speculation (…) Thanks for the great support, this is where your great love and appreciation is felt. It is now where I value his accompaniment the most. I love you brave ”.