Outrage in La Rioja for murder of 9-year-old boy by repeat offender

The Spanish police arrested a 55-year-old man in the municipality of Lardero (La Rioja) on Thursday night, as the alleged perpetrator of the death of a 9-year-old boy whom he tricked in a park into accompanying him, said the government of La Rioja region.

The nine-year-old boy was found dead inside of  a building in Lardero, a municipality of 11,000 inhabitants 5 kilometers from Logroño.

According to local press reports, which quote sources of the investigation, the victim was found alive by the Civil Guard with signs of suffocation, but died afterwards.

The authorities have not yet said if he abused the child before.

Several witnesses, including a girl, told the police that they had seen a man mislead the child. The alleged murderer, whose initials are F. J. A. L. de C., was convicted and served time for the murder of a woman in Logroño in 1998 and for a sexual assault in 1993. Currently, he was on probation.

Repeat offender

Several witnesses, including a girl, said they had seen a man trying to deceive the boy. The girl noticed the presence of a middle-aged man who weeks before had tried to take her with the same method.

According to the newspaper ABC, the alleged murderer was released from prison in April of last year when he had three of the 25 years of his sentence, imposed in 2001, to be served for killing an employee of a real estate agency in Logroño. For the 1993 sexual assault he had been sentenced to 7 years, of which he served 4.

After the capture of the suspect, there were scenes of great tension in front of the building where the arrest took place.

Some outraged neighbors gathered there to protest and even expressed their intention to enter the building to kill the detainee.

There was also anger against the Civil Guard for protecting the detainee. Some neighbors complain they had recently warned of the presence of the suspect in the vicinity, without the authorities taking action.