This security operation, carried out in Jaén at the request of the Investigation Court No. 3 of Úbeda, led to the arrest of a suspect in Ponferrada, León. The individual is regarded as one of the country’s most active offenders in phone-based sexual harassment, drawing attention from investigators and local authorities alike.
The 76-year-old defendant faced charges that included 16 cases of sexual harassment via telephone, 11 instances of usurpation of marital status, 10 occurrences of document falsification, and a single threat, with incidents reported across multiple regions of the country. The breadth of the alleged actions highlighted a disturbing pattern of intimidation that spanned months and jurisdictions, demanding a coordinated, cross-territory response from law enforcement and the judiciary.
The operation, named Melos Jódar, began after a complaint from a resident of that town prompted officers to investigate further. From August 2021 to February 2022, the suspect reportedly engaged in a sustained campaign of calls, exceeding one hundred, many of which came from anonymous numbers. The caller pressed for sexual favors, leaving victims shaken and worried about ongoing contact with the harassment.
In addition to voice calls, investigators found messages transmitted through various applications. The communications were described as persistent, intrusive, and highly explicit, reinforcing the severity of the misconduct and the impact on victims’ sense of safety and privacy.
During the subsequent searches, investigators uncovered that the suspect operated with three distinct mobile devices and used about 20 different telephone numbers, all registered under stolen or fictitious identities. This pattern indicated a deliberate strategy to evade identification and prolong the harassment, complicating the pursuit for authorities.
As a result of the inquiry, authorities located the suspect by conducting a thorough search of a residence in Ponferrada, León. The seizure included nine mobile phones, four tablets, three desktop computers, 25 SIM cards from various operators, 35 fraudulent service contracts issued under the names of the extortionists, and four notebooks detailing the call history directed at the victims. The evidence suggested a systematic approach to contacting random numbers while exploiting stolen identities to harass women who answered the calls.
Ultimately, investigators concluded that the individual concealed his activities behind a network of phones using usurped identities, launching random calls to unsuspecting numbers and pursuing sexual harassment against those who responded. The case illustrates the challenges posed by technologically aided abuse and the importance of cross-border cooperation in pursuing and prosecuting such offenses.