Police arrest man suspected of 15 years of sexually abusing minors
Man from Alcoi lured youths to his home and offered them phones and other gifts
A pedophile who had been active for more than 15 years has been arrested by the National Police in Alcoi, Alicante province.
The suspect, a 50-year-old man, has been charged with 13 counts of sexual abuse, although authorities are aware of at least 20 separate cases.
The victims were children aged seven through 14, whom the child abuser attracted via a number of means, including offering them candy, showing them his dog, passing himself off as a girl in online chatrooms or inviting them to his house to play video games.
When the minors came to his house, he showed them pornographic movies and suggested that they all get naked
On the day of his arrest, the suspect had been planning to invite nearly 20 children to his upcoming birthday party.
Sources familiar with the investigation said that the man entered into pseudo-contracts with his victims, copies of which were found inside his home. These documents, made to justify the abuse, set out each party’s conditions: he demanded sexual encounters, while the minors asked for video consoles and cellphones.
In a press release issued on Friday, the police explained that the suspect changed his modus operandi throughout the years. In the 1990s, he located youths using amateur CB radio equipment, which was popular at the time. Once the internet became mainstream, he passed himself off as a girl in online chatrooms and got young females to send him sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves.
He also made direct contact on the street, and got minors to come to his house after earning their trust via candy or his dog.
The alleged pedophile also had an underage accomplice who helped him find new victims.
When the minors came to his house, he showed them pornographic movies and suggested that they all get naked, then gradually asked them for more explicit acts, offering money for it. If the offer was rejected, the suspect threatened to tell their parents about what had happened.
Investigators said he occasionally used violence to achieve his goals.
English version by Susana Urra.
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