The Judiciary Police (PJ), through the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Directorate, has arrested a 22-year-old man in Loures on “strong suspicion of committing the crimes of child sexual abuse and sexual acts with a minor,” according to an official statement.
The PJ noted that the suspect was in a relationship with a 13-year-old girl. “Since the child’s mother did not consent to the abusive relationship, the minor eventually ran away from home following an argument, a fact which was immediately reported by the mother to the Public Security Police (PSP),” the statement adds.
The young girl was found last Thursday, October 30, “three weeks after her disappearance” by the PSP, and “on the same date, suspicions of sexual crimes were reported to the PJ’s duty officer.”
“Immediately, the team of this police force, specialized in the investigation of these crimes, went to the hospital where the minor was located, conducting urgent investigative procedures which culminated in the suspect’s arrest,” the statement continues.
The 22-year-old man is a foreign citizen who is in the country illegally and whose asylum request was denied “for humanitarian reasons.”
The suspect has appeared in court, where he was subjected to the coercive measure of submitting a statement of identity and residence.
