The ongoing investigation into the activities of a group that forced vulnerable girls into prostitution has seen six more people arrested in Gran Canaria.
Police began to probe the activities of the network at the beginning of the year and four individuals had already been arrested in Las Palmas for their roles in identifying and grooming young girls for the purposes of exploiting them for sex.
According to the authorities, the vulnerable girls were befriended by members of the group and were plied with alcohol and drugs such as cocaine and cannabis to create physical and emotional dependency and render them complaint with demands for sex with the members and other men.
The four latest men to be arrested appeared before a judge in the capital and were released on bail after being formally served notice that they face likely charges of facilitating child prostitution and sexually assaulting the under-age girls.
The case has received headline media coverage due to the bizarre situation that has arisen with the alleged head of the organised grooming network. Following his arrest and remand to prison several months ago, Agustín Alemán Barreto – who faces similar charges in another high-profile grooming case in Gran Canaria – has repeatedly applied for a transfer to a women’s prison on the grounds that he had officially changed his sex and is now registered as trans.
However, despite Alemán Barreto going on hunger strike in protest at his treatment, the request was denied by the prison authorities, even though staff at the island’s Juan Gande jail have been instructed to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to take account of his new status, including not being physically searched by male staff and access to female hygiene products.
