Arrested for sexually assaulting two homeless women in Barcelona and Blanes
The man, with a record, attacked and robbed violently with a few weeks difference
Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested the alleged perpetrator of two sexual assaults and robberies with violence against two homeless women in Blanes and Barcelona on July 2 and 20. The arrest took place this Saturday. The detainee, with a prior record, was brought before the on-duty investigating court of Blanes on the same day.
As explained this Monday by the Catalan police, one of the assaults occurred on the morning of July 20 in a vacant lot in Blanes, near the fair set up for the town's main festival. The victim usually sleeps in the area and had met the aggressor shortly before. There, the man began to hit her and then sexually assaulted her. He also stole a watch and 20 euros from her. A fair worker who was inside a nearby caravan came out upon hearing the cries for help, and the aggressor fled.
The victim was attended at the Blanes Local Police, and the officers were able to identify the aggressor: a man who worked at the fair on a temporary basis and who had left his workplace without notice. Furthermore, the Mossos have reported that the now-detained man had also stolen belongings from the fair worker who had given him employment.
Specialists in sexual assaults from the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) linked this sexual assault to another similar one that had taken place a few weeks earlier in Barcelona and which was already under investigation. On July 2, the man struck up a conversation with a homeless woman who was sitting on a bench near Sants station. He then began to hit her and forcibly took her to a garden area, where he sexually assaulted her. Again, he also stole some of her belongings, such as her bag, mobile phone, and 65 euros in cash.
The police investigation located the suspect in the city of Barcelona, and an operation was launched to find him. The man, 44 years old, was arrested on July 24, around 8 p.m., in the Eixample district, and has already been brought before the court. He is charged with sexual assault, robbery with violence for the Blanes assault, and the same crimes for the Barcelona assault.