The pedophile from San Vicente de Castellet had already been convicted for abusing minors in Terrassa.

BarcelonaThe same thing that happened in Terrassa has happened in Sant Vicenç de Castellet. The same pattern, the same modus operandi: Carles Sallés Ballbé would put his hand under the swimsuits of children between the ages of 7 and 11 while they were swimming in the pool and touch them inappropriately. In Terrassa, he was caught and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in 2016 by the Provincial Court of Barcelona. This spring, he was released from prison and settled in Sant Vicenç de Castellet. Just a few months later, while still on parole, he was caught again: six families reported him on August 28 for sexually abusing girls between the ages of 7 and 9.

It all started on August 27. The father of a minor was with his daughter at the large pool in Sant Vicenç de Castellet, but stopped to greet the lifeguards. When he turned around, he saw a man pull his daughter into the water, grabbing her by the buttocks. The man leaves without saying a word, and the father begins asking questions. "He's a little girl's grandfather," the daughter replies. The next day, the girl's parents encounter the man again at the pool. They watch him for quite some time and notice that he always stays where there are children. The father decides to approach him and warns him not to go near any of the girls. "He left calmly," the mother says. Speaking with the lifeguards, they learned that they had been observing Sallés's behavior for weeks because a woman had informed them that he had been convicted of pedophilia, but they hadn't seen anything unusual.

Photographs and videos

That same Sunday, August 28th, the girl's parents contacted other families whose daughters had also gone to the pool that summer. Six girls recounted the same events. "He would grab them in the water and touch their bottoms, tickle their stomachs, moving up to their chests, and he even touched some of them under their swimsuits. He followed them to the changing rooms," explains Jessica, one of the affected mothers. She details how her daughter didn't want to go swimming for three or four days, in fact, she didn't want to go swimming at all until she was actually going to the pool. "He would play with them for a while and then leave so no one would suspect anything, and after a while he would come back. He pulled down the bikini bottoms of three of the girls," says Silvia, one of the mothers, who laments that her daughter has "not slept for seven nights because she's scared." "He threatened to drown them if they said anything," adds Xavi, one of the fathers.

That same Sunday, with the advice of the Local Police, six families reported Sallés to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police). They identified the 55-year-old man and spread the word through every possible channel. Thanks to the collaboration of other neighbors, photos of the man quickly circulated in Manresa and Sant Vicenç de Castellet. They made a post on Facebook explaining the events, and a former coworker of Sallés, who worked with him at the company Power Control Ibérica, identified him. As has been reported The NewspaperIt was then that they learned the pedophile who had been roaming their town had already been convicted in 2016 for similar offenses. The families searched online and found the answer they were looking for. a journalistic investigation by the newspaper ARA The article explained the case: Sallés was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for abusing four boys between the ages of 8 and 11 between 2008 and 2014 at the Terrassa Hockey Club. "During these six years, the man—a father—used his children as an excuse to touch their genitals and record them. He had more than 5,000 photographs and 66 pornographic videos," the article explained. Another former coworker of Sallés also identified him when he received one of the photographs that the families had circulated. This former coworker was very surprised when the sentence for the Terrassa crimes was announced because Sallés was a "serious" person with an important position (quality manager) within the company.

He was arrested on Tuesday, August 30. Two mothers found him near a park in the town, where neighbors had told them that Sallés often went for walks with an elderly woman. They alerted the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), and officers arrested him just before a group of irate parents arrived. On Thursday, he appeared in court and was released on bail with periodic appearances at the Manresa courthouse for alleged child sexual abuse. The Sant Vicenç de Castellet Town Hall has provided psychological support to the families and will file a private prosecution.