Man detained in Valladolid for 'child grooming': attempted to obtain intimate photos of 10-year-old boy
The National Police arrested a resident of Valladolid accused of attempting to obtain sexual images of a minor aged ten years old using 'child grooming' techniques.
Arrested in Valladolid for attempting to obtain intimate photos of a minor through video call
The National Police detained a resident of Valladolid on 23 September as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of child corruption in its 'child grooming' form, according to infobae.com. The man had attempted to convince a ten-year-old boy, resident in Puerto Lumbreras (Murcia), to send him intimate photographs via a mobile device.
The investigation began in July, when the minor's mother presented herself at the Civil Guard facilities in Puerto Lumbreras to report the facts. Upon verifying that the telephone line used by the suspect was registered at an address in Valladolid, the case was transferred to the National Police in that city, whose investigators immediately began to track down the individual.
Deception techniques in video game chats
The inquiries confirmed that the alleged perpetrator had used techniques typical of 'child grooming': the offender used online game chats or messaging applications to impersonate a minor, gain the victim's trust and subsequently request sexual content images or videos from him.
In this specific case, the man sent numerous messages to the telephone to which the minor had access, insisting that they maintain a video call. When the boy finally agreed, the suspect asked him to undress during the call and went so far as to expose his genitals to him. Upon realising that the victim was male, the alleged perpetrator ended the communication.
Background of the detainee
Investigators managed to fully identify the suspect, a man with no previous recorded arrests, although he did have relevant antecedents. In 2015 he had been identified for an act of indecent exposure in a shopping centre in Valladolid. Similarly, he appeared in investigations for obscene calls to an adult woman, and had been reported throughout the current year for similar conduct in Granada and in Coria del Río (Seville).
The man was detained in the morning of 23 September, taken to the Provincial Police Station and heard in a statement. He subsequently remained at liberty pending being summoned by the competent judge.
Telephone intercepted and possible new victims
The proceedings carried out by the National Police were placed at the disposal of the judicial authority. The detainee's telephone was intercepted and a dump and analysis of all information stored on the device was requested. Investigators do not rule out that other victims could be identified as a result of that analysis.
The National Police took the opportunity presented by the case to remind of the importance of alerting minors to the dangers of the internet and of using the technological tools available to supervise their interactions in the virtual environment.
Source: Google News BO — La Paz