The Azores Criminal Investigation Department of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) has reported the arrest of a 54-year-old man, who is “strongly suspected of committing aggravated child sexual abuse crimes against a 7-year-old girl over the past two years”.
The investigation by the PJ, conducted on an unspecified island in the Central group of the Azores archipelago, began “in early September” following a report from someone who “became aware of inappropriate behavior by the suspect towards the minor”.
The investigation revealed that “the child’s mother worked as a caregiver, living in with a bedridden individual who is a direct relative of the suspect, a situation that enabled the sexual abuse over the past years,” explained the PJ in a press release.
The detained individual was subjected to a judicial interrogation and was imposed with “the coercive measures of house arrest and a prohibition on contacting the minor and her mother,” the statement added.
