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 fake beard and mustache. The description of the attacker given by two victims of sexual assaults committed almost four months apart in Gavà (Baix Llobregat) led police to believe they were dealing with a serial rapist who could strike again. After months of investigation, a judge yesterday 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 had acted, the investigation fell to the Central Unit for Sexual Assaults (UCAS) of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police).

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 also a knife, and had immobilized the woman with different utensils to attack her. As in the first case, the woman described the aggressor as a man with a beard and/or mustache, possibly fake, and large-framed glasses that also seemed fake.

Since the beginning of the investigation, officers have dedicated themselves to creating a criminological profile of the aggressor, establishing the behavioral relationship between both cases. This already led them to believe that there was a high probability that it was the perpetrator himself and showed the capacity to act again. The violence he exercised, 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."

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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 he was "a serial perpetrator and that it was highly likely he could commit a repeat attack." Police efforts have also focused on identifying the suspect. Since the first attack, they have gathered evidence and ruled out various lines of investigation. The area where the rapes had occurred was under constant surveillance until officers located a man wearing a cap and glasses who matched the description given by the victims.

The work of the forensic police has been key to establishing this man's links to the attacks under investigation, the Mossos d'Esquadra add. To this end, they have compared evidence found at the scenes of the attacks with the man's personal belongings.