In two separate operations, the Guardia Civil have arrested 2 sexual predators accused of committing crimes of a sexual nature against minors.
Operation Berpaidos resulted in a 54-year-old man in Almeria being arrested. Allegedly, he pretended to be a minor on social media networks. Furthermore, he is accused of committing more than 40 sexual abuse crimes against minors.
Detenido un hombre de 54 años que se hacía pasar en redes sociales por un menor y al que se le acusa de cometer 40 delitos de abusos sexuales a menores pic.twitter.com/pvkohFlJ8J
— Guardia Civil 🇪🇸 (@guardiacivil) May 21, 2022
In yet another successful investigation, as part of operation Fontane, the Guardia Civil arrested a 42-year-old paedophile. He is accused of the abuse of 26 minors online, and with the purpose of producing child pronography. Seemingly, he contacted children by using well-known online games.
Operation Fontane
The operation began last July, after the complaint of the parents of a child under the age of 9. They reported suspicions that their son was having contact with an inappropriate adult via a well-known video console online game.
The investigation confirmed that the alleged paedophile contacted minors through well-known online games. Furthermore, he recorded more than 3,000 entries to these games over a period of two years.
Virtual gifts
During this time, the suspect forged a solid friendship with his potential victims. This was always through deception and abuse of superiority. He paid them virtual gifts available on gaming platforms; gifts that carried with them the request by the detainee to make video calls with the minors, so that they would show him their private parts.
As a result, the police have proven that the man was able to consummate sexual abuse with 26 minors. These children were all aged between 8 and 12 years. They came from all over Spain. The investigation states, there could well be more victims.
Over 2000 files
The man was found to have more than 2000 files involving minors with content of a sexual nature.
Once they agreed to pose nude before the camera, the detainee captured the screen of his mobile device, storing the sexual images of the minors.
Police investigators have also determined that this paedophile not only satisfied his needs through online gaming platforms, but also offered himself as a sports monitor, camp teacher and English teacher among other activities related to minors.
The Internet, and especially online games, have become best friends of sexual predators of minors. They use this to take advantage of the anonymity offered by the network to gain their trust and attempt to abuse them.
Sexual predator tips for minors
Children are so vulnerable when accessing the internet, and therefore, the Guardia Civil give some tips for minors accessing the internet:
- Parents must control the access that their children have on the Internet, regardless of the devices they use, and even more so in online games.
- There are parental control programs that can be installed on different devices, thus being able to be aware of the content and access carried out by your children
- Talk regularly and naturally with your children regarding their Internet browsing.
Also read: Childrens´coach accused of abusing a minor
