Madrid pedophile who abducted four girls given 70-year prison sentence
Antonio Ortiz found guilty on four counts of sexual assault
Antonio Ortiz, the pedophile who terrorized a Madrid neighborhood for a year between 2013 and 2014, has been found guilty on four counts of sexual assault, against four girls aged from five to nine years old and condemned by a Madrid court to 70 years and six months in jail. He was also found guilty on four counts of illegal detention, one count of attempted murder and of causing serious bodily injury.
The provincial court heard how between September 2014 and August 2015, Ortiz kidnapped the girls in Madrid¡¯s northern Ciudad Lineal and Hortaleza districts, then took them to his apartment, where he drugged them and then sexually abused them before dropping them off at various locations.
During his last attack, however, he did not drug his victim.
After his arrest, his victims were also able to identify Ortiz
The police devoted significant resources to finding the attacker, launching Operation Candy, which became ¡°the only priority¡± at all Madrid precincts. Officers pored over footage of surveillance cameras in all the areas where the suspect acted, including on public transport, and they also analyzed details of 78,000 small vehicles that fitted with the description offered by the first kidnapped child, who was nine at the time.
The 44-year-old, who has a history of sexual abuse, was finally arrested in late September 2014 at his uncle's house in the northern city of Santander following a long police investigation.
Ortiz had a criminal record that includes kidnappings, illegal detention, robberies and even a seven-year conviction for sexually abusing a six-year-old girl. He served prison time in the 1990s
A search of his home and DNA testing uncovered evidence that the victims had been inside.
After his arrest, his victims were also able to identify Ortiz.
It is not known whether Ortiz ¨C who refused to give testimony in court and said only that he was innocent of the charges ¨C will appeal the sentence in Spain's Supreme Court.
English version by Nick Lyne.
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