A "highly dangerous serial sex offender" who attacked two women armed and disguised in Gavà is in prison.

BarcelonaArmed and hiding behind large glasses, a beard, and a fake mustache. This is the description of the attacker given by two victims of sexual assaults committed almost four months apart in Gavà (Baix Llobregat). This led police to believe they were dealing with a serial rapist who could strike again. After months of investigation, this Thursday a judge remanded him in custody without bail after taking statements from him, the victims, and several witnesses.

The first attack attributed to him was on October 1 of last year, the Catalan police explained in a statement this Friday. On the street, the man threatened the victim with a knife and left injuries on her hands and arms. The woman described the attacker in detail, highlighting that he had a beard and/or mustache and horn-rimmed glasses. Given the violence with which the attacker acted, the investigation fell to the Central Unit for Sexual Assaults (UCAS) of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police). He attacked her in an isolated but urban area of Gavà and sexually assaulted her on the street. He then stole the victim's cell phone so she couldn't call for help.

Almost four months later, on January 24 of this year, a new sexual assault alerted investigators. In this case, the man had threatened the victim with a firearm and a knife, and had immobilized the woman with various utensils in order to sexually assault her. As in the first case, the woman described the attacker as a man with a beard and/or mustache, possibly fake, and large-framed glasses that also appeared to be fake.

The perpetrator's profile

From the beginning of the investigation, officers have been developing a criminal profile of the assailant, establishing the behavioral relationship between the two cases. This already led them to believe there was a high probability that it was the perpetrator himself, and that he showed the capacity to act again. The violence he exerted, his "modus operandi perfected and unusual", covering his face with glasses, a fake mustache and beard to avoid being recognized, and the fact that he repeated the attacks in the same area and time slot, "defined him as a unique and highly dangerous serial sexual aggressor profile."

Mossos d'Esquadra Sexuales explains that the profile they created corresponds to a person who "leaves the house with this idea, who is not impulsive." Therefore, it was likely that he would reoffend and forced them to work "against the clock." in the same area of Gavà, a common characteristic, according to Estrada, of this type of serial aggressors.props to disguise himself prepared in the car.

"A new attack was very likely."

The investigation by the Mossos d'Esquadra, specializing in sexual crimes, determined that the same man was behind both attacks, and they began working on the hypothesis that it was "a serial perpetrator and that it was very likely that he could commit a new attack." Police efforts have focused on identifying the suspect. Since the first attack, they have gathered clues and ruled out various lines of investigation. The area where the rapes had taken place was under constant surveillance until officers located a man wearing a cap and glasses who matched the description given by the victims. That day, they arrested him and identified him. Most importantly, they seized some items he was carrying, such as a knife, handcuffs, and theprops that he wore to hide his face.

For several weeks, the perpetrator was under constant surveillance. What were the Mossos d'Esquadra doing in the meantime? The forensic police tried to find the victims' DNA on the objects they seized. Once the genetic tests came back positive, they arrested him. Now, there's a police unit dedicated exclusively to analyzing old cases of sexual assault to see if this man could be involved.