A US citizen was arrested in Colombia's Bogota for allegedly trying to abuse a minor. The incident created a global uproar after videos of a pedestrian calling out the accused's actions went viral.
The video was reportedly shot in the Chicó Navarra neighbourhood of the Usaquén district. According to available information, a local woman was on a stroll when she spotted the man with a child on the balcony of one of the residential apartments. To her horror, she realised that the man was not playing with the minor boy, as it looked from afar. She started screaming to alert more locals, who kept gathering at the spot until the police arrived.
THE WEEK could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Including the boy found on the balcony, law and order personnel found three children, aged 4, 7 and 15, inside the apartment. The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) reportedly confirmed that the kids are now under its protection.
The man, reportedly a 35-year-old from Texas, had rented the apartment via Airbnb. As per the viral video, he did not panic after being spotted and went inside the apartment.
Understanding that locals were furious at the man and might turn violent, the police called in an anti-riot squad to safely extract the man after three hours.
He was later handed over to the Prosecutor's Office, where he is expected to face charges of aggravated sexual assault of a minor under 14 years of age, Arab Times Online said in a report.
The report added that, as per the Colombian Migration authorities, the man entered the country on June 6 through Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport as a tourist.
