The three legal cases against the large-scale pedophilia network in Barcelona now total sixteen suspects.

BarcelonaThe three legal cases opened against the Barcelona pedophilia macro-network add up to sixteen people under investigation, including The 45-year-old electrician for whom the Prosecutor's Office has requested a sentence of 107 years in prison to rape and record child pornography at the expense of a minor in the care of the General Directorate of Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA). In parallel, and after 48 hours of silence since the accusation became known, the Generalitat has announced that it has opened an information file to review the DGAIA's reaction when it detected, in 2021, the repeated rapes of the girl, who was 12 years old and was under the care of the administration—her legal guardians were still her parents—by a man who facilitated the rape of other pedophiles.

The magnitude of the case has led Barcelona's Investigating Judge 7 to divide it into three proceedings. The first case is the only one in which the judicial investigation has already concluded and in which the Prosecutor's Office has already filed an indictment. The investigating judge is investigating the crimes of sexual assault, production and possession of child pornography, inducement to child pornography, and exhibition of pornography to minors, according to a report from the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) on Wednesday.

In the second case, the court is investigating the electrician himself and ten other men for assaulting the same minor under the care of the DGAIA and a boy. In addition to the electrician, another of those investigated in this case is also in pretrial detention. The other nine investigated in the second case, the TSJC adds, are on provisional release in order to make themselves available to the court whenever required.

In the third proceeding opened in relation to this pedophilia network, there are six investigated in total, including the electrician. The other five are on provisional release with precautionary measures, including restraining orders from the victims and a ban on working in jobs that involve contact with minors. In the investigation of this third case, five new victims have been identified so far as a result of the analysis of the suspects' electronic devices.

In fact, the last five investigated have each had individual proceedings opened for crimes of possession of child pornography. This decision was made after child pornography was found on their devices that is not related to the case being investigated by Barcelona's Investigating Court 7, but rather affects other minors. The new investigations could even end up in the courts of other cities, depending on where the events occurred.

Social Rights Research

This case is one of the largest known cases of pedophilia in Catalonia, and when the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) investigated it, they already warned that the number of those involved reached thirty, although they had not been able to identify almost half of the men. In fact, judicial sources already indicated to the ARA that So far the investigation has only been able to confirm the identity of two men., both of whom are in pre-trial detention, with sufficient authority to prosecute them.

The Department of Social Rights and Inclusion has not commented on the attacks nor has it explained whether the minor is still in a center, but it has announced that it has opened an information file to review the DGAIA's reaction when it detected the case in 2021. In a brief statement, preliminary conclusions of this file were provided. However, the ministry has not reported whether an internal investigation was opened in 2021.

According to the statement, the attacks on the minor were reported "thanks to the intervention of the center's educational staff," who, upon suspecting some clues, activated the relevant protocols, although judicial sources indicate that the case began to be investigated following a warning from a man who realized she was a minor. In addition, Several sources in the sector had recently explained to ARA that There is no guide on how to act in a similar situation. Sources from the department clarify that professionals at juvenile centers are "trained in detecting trauma" that children often experience due to family circumstances before being left abandoned.

This Wednesday, the Catalan Ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, also announced that she has opened an ex officio investigation into the case and the measures taken. Giménez-Salinas believes it is "urgent" to address the "serious" shortcomings of the protection system "that this case has revealed." In this regard, she recalled that a 2023 report already warned that the "risk of sexual exploitation" is "higher" among adolescents residing in public protection centers.

"Easy and Pretending Victims"

Workers in the sector report that children living in the centers are "easy and willing victims" for sexual predators and pedophiles because, in order to forget the harsh reality they have endured, they often seek out "adult saviors" who, through deception, promise them a few hours of recess, money, or new clothes, and then... In the centers, there is some control over social media use and schedules, but children come and go to school or extracurricular activities.

Where and how do pedophiles make contact? Social media is one of the avenues because minors can easily create fake profiles pretending to be adults, which go unnoticed by educators or parents. "You can't find them, nor do you know what platform they're registered on," says one educator.

Several sources admit that sexual assaults against minors in care are not isolated cases, just as they also occur among children who live with the family. "These are situations that exist in society, but there are men who seek out these types of children," they affirm. The College of Social Educators of Catalonia (CEESC) has also stated that the reported case is not an "exceptional case." In a statement, it points out that for "too long" there have been warnings of "structural deficiencies in the child protection system" and a lack of resources and recognition for professional teamsIn this regard, the organization calls for "more efforts in supervision" to stop responding to emergencies and instead rely on "the goodwill of educators."

The cases of pedophilia coincide with a time of change at the DGAIA. A few weeks ago, the councilor dismissed Isabel Carrasco at the head of the DGAIA, just six months after appointing her, and replaced her with Manager of the Social Services Department of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Josep MuñozThe DGAIA cares for more than 19,000 minors in Catalonia, and of these, around 9,000 have been reported as abandoned and are living separately from their families, either with other relatives, in foster families, or in centers (5,200 as of April).