Suspect in east-zone São Paulo sexual assaults confesses crimes and is identified by victims
William da Silva Santana, 32, was identified by two women and admitted to committing the two sexual attacks and the theft of the victims' mobile phones.
Suspect in east-zone São Paulo sexual assaults confesses crimes and is identified by victims
William da Silva Santana, 32, was arrested and confessed to committing two sexual assaults in the eastern region of the São Paulo capital, according to information from the Civil Police. He also admitted to taking the victims' mobile phones.
The first crime attributed to him occurred on the evening of 23 April, against a 25-year-old woman, in the Mooca area. The second took place on 12 May, at around 21:15, near the Tatuapé station on line 3-red of the Metro. On that occasion, the victim was a 17-year-old teenager who was disoriented and asked for directions on how to reach the station.
Surveillance images show that the accused arrived in the region shortly before and was observing the flow of pedestrians, apparently looking for someone. He even followed a woman, but changed course when he spotted the young woman. The man offered to help her and led her to a nearby street, where he dragged her into a dead-end alley of a construction site.
Upon realising that the location did not lead to the terminal, the teenager tried to return, but was blocked by the attacker, who intimidated her by claiming to be armed. After the sexual assault, he fled taking the young woman's mobile phone.
Police teams managed to locate him through the surveillance camera footage. William was detained on 10 June, at which point he became unwell and had convulsions, being hospitalised. He was discharged on Thursday (18) and transferred to the 26th Police District (Sacomã). The investigation is being handled at the 30th DP (Tatuapé).
During his statement, the suspect was subjected to a personal identification and was identified by both victims. He did not appear with a private lawyer and was assisted by the Public Defenders office at the custody hearing, which upheld the preventive detention.
The Public Defenders office reported that it attended the hearing to verify the legality of the detention, but emphasised that statements regarding criminal proceedings are made exclusively in the case files.
Source: Folha de S.Paulo
Source: Google News BR — São Paulo