“The day they were arrested”Tuff‘My son told me he learned about this at school and asked why they took him. I said it was due to sexual abuse. But my son, who was 8 years old at the time, did not understand anything. When I went in to explain to him what sexual abuse was, he said he had done the same thing to her. “That’s how we learned that my son was this type of victim.”
This is described by the mother of one of the minors who reported being sexually assaulted. Cristóbal LC, alias ‘Toba’He was a fruit grower in the Madrid municipality of Valdeavero until he was arrested for allegedly being the perpetrator of numerous sexual assaults on more than a dozen children under the age of 15 living in the town.
Cristóbal, now 50, has just entered prison. He has more than a dozen pending cases, and they’re all for the same reason: sexually assaulting children, always boys, and all under the age of 16. On 4 October, Article 30 of the Regional Court of Madrid sentenced him to: 19 years in prison. 12 people charged with sexual assault of a 15-year-old child and 7 more charged with two counts of corruption against minors.As this newspaper reported. Some of the cases are separate but identical to those that will be decided in October 2024: sexual assault of minors.
prison and freedom
Valdeavero pedophile jailed in December 2020, but He was released on charges in October 2021. The same Alcalá de Henares judge who ordered him sentenced to prison signed the release order because he deemed him not a flight risk. A decision that families protested and held demonstrations for in Valdeavero.
Nine days after the said sentence, Madrid Provincial Court He once again ordered his own imprisonment in order to provide partial relief to the victims and their families. The underage children who were attacked still live in the town and are afraid to cross the street with the person who abused them three years ago.
Now, El Periódico de España of the Prensa Ibérica group is speaking to two direct relatives of the two boys who were allegedly abused by the town’s fruit vendor: the mother and grandmother, respectively, of the two men, who were 8 years old at the time of the events. and 10 years old, whose identities this newspaper has omitted to protect the identities of both victims, are minors. They are both happy to see the convicted sex offender go to prison, but they remember the consequences it had on their children.
Trust is earned
““It all started when Cristóbal opened a grocery store in town, and we would go down to the pine trees outside his door to get some fresh air,” says the grandmother of one of the young men, whom she describes as “a very open boy” who needed a lot of attention because he had ADHD and had not seen his father since It’s been a long time. Also, Toba played with him a lot and gained a lot of confidence.”he tells EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA on a terrace in Valdeavero.
A ‘modus operandi’ he repeated with more than a dozen of the town’s children, who came around the greengrocer to play football with the son of the now-convicted man. He either introduced me to the store or invited me to the pool at his house. That’s when Toba forced himself on the boys despite their refusal, placing his hand on their genitals, taking off their clothes, or performing oral sex on them.
“I trusted him. There are even voices calling me and telling me that he is going to take my grandchild to the pool.; leaving him, leaving with her children, etc. My grandson helped her put the fruits in the store and she stayed with him. “I never trusted him because I wasn’t the only one who went to the pool with him,” this woman continues.
Obsessively
Toba’s passion for children was so great that even if they weren’t in his son’s circle of friends, they were on his radar. The mother of one of the victims explains the situation as follows: “My son had nothing to do with Toba’s son’s group of friends. They knew each other by appearance, but not by age. They didn’t match. They didn’t go out to play together or go for a walk around town. this character [Cristóbal] “He was a very good friend of my husband’s who did the housework.”
She did not learn that her son was one of the victims until the attacker was arrested. This contributed to the raising of the issue, as the grandmother of the other minor child recalled: “I learned everything because one day, after being locked up due to Covid, he came to my house and told me that a friend of ours had been summoned to testify because something unprecedented was happening in the town: Toba had been reported and a mother was called as a witness to all this. It was later revealed that his son was also a victim.“, he tells this newspaper.
“I told it to my daughter in disbelief. She asked my grandson and of course my child started crying because she was also a victim. My daughter had previously gone to her psychiatrist because she was treated for ADHD. The psychiatrist confirmed that these were not hallucinations or exaggerations of the child.” she explains, remembering the moment when they realized that the little boy in their house was one of those sexually assaulted by the fruit seller. This is where the flow of complaints began because the mother “immediately went to report the situation”. Civil Guard..
The child is at the police station “He testified for the first time and then it became a journey of psychiatrists and psychologists for him.” A hell that doesn’t stop: “The truth is that the child is very bad. He is still receiving psychiatric and pedagogical treatment. He has attempted suicide many times. He is now 15 years old, but his treatment continues due to his illness. There have been changes in his behavior. And yes, slowly,” the grandmother resigned. It does.
traumas
“Little by little” lasting longer than desired. “He seems to be getting better in recent months now. But he’s still very scared. He said he saw him coming in, that we shouldn’t fall asleep before him. Once my daughter saw him by the window.” The truth is that it has stigmatized us all.‘ he concludes.
His friend and neighbor’s son also went through this ordeal: “My son was receiving psychological treatment at a center. He is in good condition for now. From time to time, he asks whether Toba is still here or whether he is himself. And we try not to pay attention to it because I don’t want my son to have such a bad time.” “Summarizes his mother.
Both, like other affected families, “This man will get the 105 years our lawyer wants.” This is Juan Manuel Medina, who is handling the case of five children. The Clara Campoamor Association selflessly took responsibility for the popular accusation. They are slowly trying to get back to normal, but some of these boys have not yet recovered from the trauma of being sexually assaulted by someone they trusted.