The National Police, in a joint operation with the FBI, has arrested in Astorga (León) a man wanted by the US authorities for a crime of aggravated sexual assault committed against his partner’s daughter, who was 11 years old at the time. of the facts.
The events occurred in 2017 in the state of Utah and, since then, the alleged perpetrator’s whereabouts were unknown, until in December 2023 it was learned that he may have intended to travel to Spain, police sources reported this Monday. He had an international arrest warrant since he had fled the country and was located residing in the Leonese town of Astorga.
The investigation began when the authorities of Salt Lake City (USA), through the FBI, informed the agents of the Central Family and Women’s Assistance Unit of the National Police of the possible presence in Spain of a man classified as a “sexual predator.” He had been wanted since 2017 for several aggravated sexual assaults on the daughter of his partner at the time, an 11-year-old minor with whom he lived in the state of Utah.
He had been wanted since 2017 for several aggravated sexual assaults on the daughter of his partner at the time, an 11-year-old minor with whom he lived in the state of Utah. Her minor stated that, in addition to the sexual assaults of which she was a victim, the man forced her to watch pornographic content on her mobile phone and that she pinched her face if she closed her eyes. .
The DNA tests carried out on the girl confirmed the man’s incrimination, so the police authorities tried to locate him, but he had fled, leaving his vehicle abandoned in Salt Lake City when he learned that each of the acts committed could entail a life imprisonment sentence.
From that moment on, investigators were unable to determine his whereabouts until December 2023 when it was detected that he had obtained a new Peruvian passport, the country from which he was originally from. They also found out that he may have intended to travel to Spain, so the National Police agents began the corresponding procedures and detected his presence in the country.
The investigations allowed the fugitive to be located in the Leonese town of Astorga, where he lived with his partner and her daughters. Agents from the Central Unit for Family and Women’s Assistance, with the presence of a member of the FBI, arrested him in the accommodation where he lived.
Subsequently, the agents interviewed the detainee’s current partner to verify that the minor daughters with whom they lived had not been victims of sexual assault, being able to rule out such an extreme. The judge has ordered his entry into preventive detention pending an extradition request from the US authorities.
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