POLICIA Nacional officers have arrested a 42-year-old man in Malaga for the alleged sexual assault of two vulnerable young men he lured into his vehicle.
The suspect is accused of targeting his victims separately near a municipal homeless shelter in the west of the city.
He allegedly enticed them into his car by offering them agricultural work or promising ‘easy money’ by helping him steal from tourists.
Once inside, he drove them to secluded areas where he made sexual propositions before attacking them both.
One of the victims, a young man from Mali who holds international protection status in Spain, managed to escape by leaping from the moving vehicle after the suspect began touching him.
His vital testimony led investigators to the predator, who had already abducted a second vulnerable man.
The second victim, a 20-year-old with limited cognitive understanding, had been reported missing by his mother on March 17.
Given the young man’s vulnerabilities, police immediately treated his disappearance as disturbing and launched a desperate search.
The victim spent a week at the mercy of his attacker before a local patrol finally located him in the city on March 23 and reunited him with his family.
Following his rescue, the Policia Nacional Homicide Group tracked the suspect to his home in Malaga and arrested him on suspicion of two counts of sexual assault.
Investigators believe the man deliberately sought out young, vulnerable and ‘good-looking’ men to satisfy his sexual desires.
The suspect was handed over to the courts on Thursday.
Detectives have kept the investigation open and have not ruled out the involvement of third parties or the discovery of further victims.
Click here to read more Malaga News from The Olive Press.
