Former Socialist Youth Leader Granted Bail in Spain

Posted by: C. Aliens February 28, 2018 in Featured,

A court in Elche, Spain, granted the pretrial release of Alejandro Díaz, a former general secretary of Joves Socialistes (The Socialist Youth of Spain). Law enforcement arrested the former leader after discovering that he used several darknet child abuse forums and message boards. The Prosecutors Office argued that the defendant posed a flight risk due to the defendant’s former involvement in a political party.

However, the court disagreed. The court argued that Alejandro Díaz had complied with the court completely. Prior to his incarceration, the man had shown up for court appearances at his own free will, the judge said. And once in custody, Diaz continued to comply with the court. The prosecution also argued that the weight of the charges could influence the defendant’s decision. He faces a minimum of two years in prison for possessing child abuse material, if convicted.

The investigation began in 2016 after agents of the Central Technological Research Brigade discovered several new private forums on the darknet that specialized in “new and unpublished” content. The investigators also found a network for the private exchange of illegal content via anonymous messaging apps.

If convicted on the charges related to sharing child abuse images on darknet forums and chat rooms, Alejandro Díaz faces a minimum of five years. The court will almost certainly convict the former politician. When the National Police raided the man’s home, that found large caches of child abuse content. The amount of content found surpassed any amount for simple “storage,” the prosecutor told the court.

Alejandro Díaz told investigators of the National Police that he had participated in chats with other pedophiles on the internet. He also gave agents the password needed to access one of these chatrooms. They witnessed forum members exchanging content and concluded that the defendant had exchanged pictures as well.

Although the prosecution only charged Alejandro Díaz with the possession of child abuse material and the distribution of the same content, investigators verified that he had sexually abused a one year old child. It is unclear why they have not pressed child abuse charges. In the chats online, investigators found that the man claimed he had abused two more children. He told other forum users that he had abused a two year old girl and another girl under six years old.

He faces no child abuse charges. If he did, the court would likely have considered him a risk to the community and denied his bail. Instead, they allowed his release, pending a 20,000 euro bond.