Andalucía
Mari Luz paedophile sent to prison for three years for earlier case in Gijón
By h.b.
Jul 2, 2008 - 6:52 AM

The man who is accused of killing the Huelva 5 year old, Mari Luz Cortés, Santiago del Valle, has accepted a three year prison sentence for the abuse of another youngster from Gijón. The case pre-dates the Huelva events of five months ago, but only came to light following the publicity of the Mari Luz case.

It dates to the start of 2006 when Del Valle got in contact with the girl who was aged 13 at the time, using the Telenovela magazine, and starting a penpal relationship. Some months later he turned up at her home saying that he wanted to interview her, something which was stopped by the girl’s mother.

However then the alleged paedophile moved his home from Sevilla to Gijón and registered in the same institute where the 13 year old was studying. From September 2006 he is accused of following her everywhere and making lewd proposals of a sexual nature to her, including inviting her to a hotel. He started to insult her in the face of her denials.

Del Valle also has to serve another sentence handed down against him in 2002 in Sevilla, for abusing a 5 year old girl. He had been sent to prison for two years nine months in that case but the term was not enforced at the time.

Meanwhile National Police in Spain have said that there is an epidemic of paedophile activity in the country, with the number of arrests up ten fold since 2000 and the number of complaints linked to the internet running at 3,000 a month. If you think you have seen something illegal on the internet you can inform the police on this email - denuncias.pornografia.infantil@policia.es