A WhatsApp chain has sown alarm in recent days among parents and students on the island, especially in Arrecife. The messages warn of the alleged presence of a pedophile lurking around schools and institutes in the capital, and even claim that he "tried to take a child in La Santa." However, the reality is that there is not a single complaint in any police force, as La Voz has been able to confirm after contacting the Civil Guard, the National Police and the Local Police of Arrecife and Tinajo.
From the Civil Guard they affirm forcefully that everything responds to a "hoax". In fact, they assure that it is not the first time that it has happened and explain that in the Canary Islands they have already faced very similar cases. "They never give specific dates, they always talk about white vans and they always warn that the vulnerable link, the children, is going to be attacked," they explained to La Voz from this body.
The pattern described by the Civil Guard for this type of "hoaxes" is almost exactly the same in this case. According to the messages that many parents have received, the alleged pedophile "has a white van without a window in the back." A second message states that he is "very aggressive and that they have seen him around Nieves Toledo and Zerolo." Even, without giving a single date, another WhatsApp maintains that "the Police are watching him" and that they even arrested him, "but since he has not done anything they released him."
However, from the Local Police of Arrecife they have confirmed to La Voz that it is not true that they have made any arrests. And the same is indicated by the National Police and the Civil Guard. In fact, there is not even a single complaint in this regard. The only thing they do know in all these police forces is the WhatsApp chain that is circulating on the island, generating an alarm that everything indicates is totally unfounded.
Neither has the Local Police of Tinajo received complaints, despite the fact that supposedly, and according to those messages, one of the most serious episodes occurred in La Santa.
In the WhatssApps that are circulating among parents and children, it is striking that even photographs of the alleged pedophile are included. However, the Police and the Civil Guard affirm that they do not even know who that person is or if he lives on the island. In one of the images, the man appears inside the Arrecife Courts, but the Civil Guard does not rule out that it could even be a montage.
What all the police forces do confirm is that they do not know who that person is, who could be a homeless person living in Arrecife, nor are there any complaints for events similar to those described in those messages.