Rio de Janeiro / Wiesbaden (dpa) – A German living in Brazil is suspected of having sexually abused hundreds of children and young people. In addition, the 73-year-old man is said to have produced and distributed thousands of videos with child pornographic material.
Police in Rio de Janeiro reportedly arrested the suspect after searching the house where a studio was set up to produce the videos.
The arrest took place on Thursday evening (local time) in the greater area of the Brazilian metropolis, confirmed a spokesman for the civil police of the German press agency. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is in contact with the Brazilian investigators. “There is an international exchange of messages between the Brazilian and the German authorities,” said a spokeswoman in Wiesbaden on Sunday of the dpa. Details were not disclosed. As the central office of the German criminal police, the BKA is responsible for international exchange.
According to the news portal G1, citing police officers, the 73-year-old wanted to escape when he was arrested, fell and injured himself. The man’s bloodied face was shown on Brazilian television when he was taken away. The investigators discovered the studio for the production of child pornography in the man’s house in western Rio after a mother of two victims – girls aged 12 and 14 – went to the police, according to media reports.
There was accordingly shot in three different rooms in which the officials found seesaws, swings and panels. The officers also found children’s toys and “sadomasochistic objects that were used to film children and adolescents,” and 30,000 videos of child pornography.
“That was a shock,” G1 quoted a police inspector as saying. “I’ve never seen anything so bizarre, aggressive.” The victims are said to have been children and adolescents from the Santíssimo district in western Rio, where the suspect’s studio was located at the foot of a favela hill. He is said to have lured the children who live in poor settlements with the help of an accomplice and with gifts such as clothes and toys. The house is said to have been equipped with reinforced windows and doors to prevent people from escaping from there.
According to a report by the UOL Internet portal, the police estimate that hundreds of children and young people may have fallen victim to the suspect. Accordingly, investigators would investigate the 30,000 files in the coming days to find the victims.
The police are also investigating who received the videos. According to G1, these are said to have been sold to customers all over the world, especially in Europe including Germany. According to the UOL portal, the police will collect bank and tax details from the suspect. Because it is supposed to be an international network, according to a report by Brazilian television, the local federal police got involved.
“He (the suspect) was part of a network of criminals from different parts of the world,” said Paula Mary, who was in charge of the case, to the TV channel “Record”: “A planned and structured network to attract the children to rape, produce, commercialize and distribute the videos around the world. ” The investigation is also about a possible involvement of the man in sex tourism – with children and young people as victims. The German is said to have run a travel agency in the Copacabana district of Rio.
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