Children's doctor faces 26 years jail for sex abuse in Spain

A CHILDREN’S doctor in southern Spain is facing 26 years and six months in jail after admitting sexually abusing six youngsters between the ages of four and 13.
Colombian-born paediatrician Carlos Alexander R. L. was serving as a physician with the Andalusian Health Service Almeria province when he committed the offences.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office, which had initially asked for 37 years in prison changed its demands to 26 years and six months in prison. The doctor apologised to his victims and their families during the trial at the Almeria Provincial Court.
The paediatrician worked at various clinics in the province between 2008 and 2013. Taking advantage of his status as a doctor, he established “relations of trust” with the mothers of the children, especially with those who were of the same nationality, were single and had problems in getting legal residency.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he obtained the mothers’ consent for the children to spend “an afternoon or a weekend” at the man’s home in Roquetas de Mar. It was there that the abuse happened.
In addition to imprisonment, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested 42 years of probation and payment of compensation of between 15,000 and 10,000 euros for the moral damage caused to the victims.
At the time of the sexual abuse, the defendant was fleeing his country, where he had been sentenced to 38 months’ imprisonment for similar offences. In March 2014, he was arrested in Colombia, where he had returned, thanks to the collaboration of the Colombian police, Interpol and the Guardia Civil.
He was extradited to Spain on July 8, 2016.