Paulo Abreu dos Santos, a lawyer and former aide to the ex-Minister of Justice, Catarina Sarmento e Castro, was detained by the Cybercrime Unit of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) in cooperation with the DIAP of Lisbon, for crimes of child pornography and sexual abuse of children.
The news was confirmed by a PJ source, stating that the lawyer was arrested on Friday morning, December 12.
The former aide allegedly abused minors and recorded the acts with a mobile phone. A portion of these sexual crimes, including access and sharing of such content, are reported to have been conducted from the Ministry of Justice itself, using his computer. Paulo Abreu dos Santos, 38, served in this role from 2023 to 2024.
The lawyer was caught red-handed during a search of his home, where authorities found hundreds of files of child pornography. The videos depicted children between the ages of 4 and 14 being abused.
Paulo Abreu dos Santos appeared before the competent judicial authority on Saturday, which ruled that he would remain in preventive detention.
The former aide was mentioned in an international investigation originating in the United States, monitoring sexual crimes against minors on the social networks Signal and Telegram. It was through this lead that Portuguese authorities proceeded with the investigation into Paulo Abreu dos Santos.
According to the curriculum note in the Diário da República, Paulo Jorge Abreu dos Santos holds a degree in Law and developed his professional activity as a lawyer and consultant, particularly in the areas of corporate and commercial litigation, insolvency, and arbitration.
