The Guardia Civil has arrested in Alicante a serial sexual cyberpredator who is charged with 36 crimes against sexual freedom against victims under 16 years old for grooming: pretending to be a minor to gain the trust of other minors and have them send intimate images.
The agents in charge of this operation, named “Achillea”, have managed to identify more than 20 especially vulnerable victims, aged from 8 years old, throughout the national territory and in different points abroad.
The investigation began thanks to the report of a victim residing on the island of Gran Canaria, filed with the Guardia Civil in 2024. During the initial actions, a search was conducted at the accused's home, where a large number of storage devices with a capacity to store 18,000 Gigabytes was seized.
The Judicial Police Team of the Guardia Civil in Santa María de Guía began the analysis of the more than 200 seized data devices, including mobile phones, external hard drives, computers, and pen drives, where they found a large quantity of pedophile video files and images.
As a result of the analysis of the information gathered, the civil guards have so far managed to identify more than 20 victims under 16 years old. The perpetrator used grooming techniques where he combined deception and emotional manipulation to achieve child sexual exploitation.
According to the investigations, the cyberpedophile dedicated himself for more than a decade to contacting the victims through messaging applications and social networks. He pretended to be a minor named Juan, gaining the trust of the victims. After some time emotionally manipulating the victims, even becoming the “boyfriend” of some of them, he managed to get the minors to record or photograph themselves performing sexual acts and send him the files.
The accused kept those pedophile files for his own sexual consumption, organizing a private collection. As a result of the investigations, the perpetrator, a person native to Alicante, has been arrested.
The Civil and Investigative Section of the Court of Instance of Santa María de Guía has ordered his entry into prison, communicated and without bail.
Recommendations against grooming
- It is recommended to keep profiles closed and not accept requests from strangers, even if they have friends in common.
- Avoid publishing the location, school name, or phone numbers on public networks.
- Parental supervision of online activities and maintaining open communication so the minor feels confident if something makes them uncomfortable.