'Colombian Fritzl' - Eight Kids With Daughter
A man dubbed the "Colombian Fritzl" has been arrested after being accused of sexually abusing his daughter and fathering eight children with her.
Originally published by www.news.sky.com, March 30, 2009
The allegations against Arcebio Alvarez, 58, have sparked an outcry over the lack of child protection in the Andean nation.
It follows Austrian Josef Fritzl's notorious conviction for fathering seven children with a daughter he trapped in a cellar for 24 years.
"We agreed to have a romantic relationship because we really loved each other."
Arcebio Alvarez
A 64–year–old man, reportedly called Michele Mongelli, has also been accused of locking up his daughter for 25 years and repeatedly raping her with his son in Italy.
Alvarez told a court on Saturday he was innocent, saying his accuser was not his biological daughter.
He was then transported to jail under military guard to keep angry crowds at bay. The children, three boys and five girls, were put under state protection.
Read: Timeline of Elisabeth Fritzl's abuse and how her captor's dark secret was uncovered.Alba Nidia Alvarez, the 35–year–old woman who claims to be his biological daughter, told police he had abused her since she was under the age of 10.
But the accused told a judge: "I adopted her. We agreed to have a romantic relationship because we really loved each other. But she was not my own child."
Alba Nidia, from the central Colombian town of Mariquita, said an evangelical Christian pastor had convinced her to come forward about the suspected abuse.
"That (the pastor's support) is what gave me the strength," she said in an interview with newspaper El Tiempo.
Alba Nidia's mother died when she was five, leaving her under the care of Alvarez, who has been branded "the monster of Mariquita" by reporters.
The eight children are between the ages of one and 19.
Elvira Forero, head of Colombia's child welfare agency, called the case "an intolerable crime."
Child welfare advocates called for Alvarez to be jailed for life, if convicted, saying hundreds of thousands of child sexual abuse cases in Colombia are not being prosecuted.
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