Exorcist Priest Arrested After Allegedly Pulling Out a Teen Girl's Hair and Using It as Floss

A Michigan priest who hosts an exorcism podcast is facing charges for allegedly snatching a teenage girl's hair from her head and using it to floss his teeth.

Father Carlos Martins of Detroit, host of The Exorcist Files podcast and author of a book of the same title, was charged this month with misdemeanor battery in Illinois over the alleged Nov. 25 incident. He has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors in Will County, Ill., said in a Jan. 22 criminal complaint that Martins "placed the hair" of a minor "in his mouth" in an "insulting or provoking nature."

The alleged incident took place when Martins was visiting the Queen of Apostles parish in Joliet in November, as part of the Relic of St. Jude's nationwide American tour directed by Martins' evangelist religious ministry, Treasures of the Church.

A male teen waiting in line to see the relic told police that the bald Martins was making jokes about having hair before grabbing one 13-year-old girl's hair and putting it in his mouth, Joliet Police spokesperson Sgt. Dwayne English tells PEOPLE. He then allegedly proceeded to make a flossing motion with the hair, according to English.

He later allegedly sat down behind the girl in the pew and started making "growling" noises, English says.

Following the alleged incident, the Diocese of Joliet ordered Martins to "depart from our parish and out of our Diocese," per a November statement.

Martins was taken into custody on the morning of Jan. 27 and charged with battery, per Joliet police. He was released on a notice to appear.

The Companions of the Cross — the religious order to which Treasures of the Church belongs — said that Martins had "agreed to withdraw from his pastoral ministry."

"We pray for all those who are affected by this painful situation," the companions wrote.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Detroit said Martins is "prohibited from engaging in any public ministry" within the Archdiocese.

Martins' attorney, Marcella Burke, said in a statement that the charges against him were "egregious and unfounded."

"The evidence will show that Fr. Carlos did not ‘floss’ with a student’s hair or ‘growl’ among other completely false and repulsive accusations — this is a takedown of a good priest and an attempted shakedown of the Church," said Burke. "We are confident in the legal process and look forward to our client being fully exonerated."

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