Isha Sesay
A SERIAL masturbator has been arrested in Palma de Mallorca.
The detainee, 35, had allegedly chased several girls down the street, including young children.
Once catching up with his targets, he proceeded to masturbate in front of them.
Multiple calls had been made to the emergency services by concerned residents about the man on Saturday afternoon.
They stated that he had been running after girls and was now standing in the middle of the road with his pants to his ankles masturbating.
Policia Nacional and Policia Local rushed to the scene.
Locating the suspect, he initially denied that he had done any wrongdoing.
However, after speaking to six eye-witnesses they confirmed he was the suspect they were looking for.
This included a mother and her seven-year-old daughter who fled when the man stood less than half a metre away from them, pulled down his trousers and started to touch his penis.
After verifying the facts, an identity check was made which revealed the suspect had a criminal history for similar behaviour.
He is now being held in custody charged with sexual abuse and exhibitionism with the aggravating circumstance that his actions were done in front of children.
It comes as paedophile crimes soared across Spain during the coronavirus lockdown.
A lieutenant from the Guardia Civil said the Department of Telematic Crimes had been overwhelmed during the state of alarm.
While they usually dealt with around 100 incidents per day, this had soared by 500% to 600 during confinement.
