Police capture convicted pedophile who was mistakenly pardoned

A 63-year-old convicted pedophile, who was serving a 30-year sentence in Morocco before he was mistakenly pardoned by King Mohammed VI, was captured on Monday at a hotel in Murcia, Interior Ministry sources said.

Daniel Galván Viña was arrested soon after the government in Rabat issued an international arrest warrant earlier Monday. Spanish authorities were waiting for the warrant before moving in to capture Galván Viña who was staying at a one-star hotel. According to an employee, he was staying there alone.

He was expected to go before the High Court later this week where it will be determined if he should be extradited back to Morocco to serve out his sentence.

At the same time details emerged about how Galván Viña was mistakenly pardoned.

Government sources said the Spanish Embassy in Morocco drafted two lists that were presented to King Mohammed VI last week. One contained the names of 30 jailed Spaniards who had petitioned to be allowed to serve out their sentences in Spain. A second list contained the names of 18 inmates who were asking the king for a pardon.

Moroccan government officials put all the names together, including Galván Viña’s name, which was on the first list, and presented them to the king for a pardon. In all, 48 received pardons when only 18 asked for them, the sources said.