Paulo Abreu dos Santos, 38, was a lawyer very popular with his bosses. Catarina Sarmento e Castro, who was the last Minister of Justice in António Costa’s socialist government before the political change, praised her work as a deputy since her deposition in October 2022. We cannot suspect that this young jurist even used official computers to share and consume child pornography. A court ruled that he had been admitted to pre-trial detention because it considered that there was a high risk that the criminal activity would continue, that it would conceal the crimes against him and because of the social concern caused by the case.
The Fiscalía General de la República, which is leading the investigation, estimates that there is evidence that 500 crimes of child pornography and sexual abuse of minors could be committed. Abreu came into the police crosshairs a year and six months ago, when a US federal agency informed the Portuguese judicial police.
American researchers detected the presence of a user in Portugal while investigating an international child pornography network. The Portuguese police discovered, thanks to the IP, that it was Abreu. One of the tracks leads to a personal computer at his home and the other leads to a device at the Ministry of Justice, from where he will have to work in 2024, following the political change that occurred after the resignation of António Costa as prime minister.
Police registered his home last July and found videos of sexual abuse of minors recorded by Abreu on his cellphone, according to the Portuguese newspaper. Public. In their equipment were 500 images of child pornography (each considered a standalone crime), although researchers still had not tracked the content of the reckless material. It is also excluded that you could be connected to a Portuguese or international criminal network to exchange illicit pornographic files.
After learning of the arrest, the University of Lisbon suspended its contract with Abreu, who was taking courses at the Faculty of Law, in addition to collaborating on a buffet in the Portuguese capital, who was “dismayed” by the news and assured that there was no working relationship with him.
The detainee had already admitted the facts and admitted that he had been consuming child pornography since 2023, according to the SIC television channel. Abreu facilitated the identification of children who had been abused, one of whom was part of his own circle of acquaintances. The victims had been there for 10 years.
Last February also marked the Portuguese political class with the accusation brought against Nuno Pardal, leader of Chega, for prostitution of minors. The tax authorities accused him of committing a crime and attempting to commit a crime. Pardal, who was a municipal deputy in Lisbon and abandoned his post, had repeatedly defended the chemical castration of pedophiles.
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