Lawyer Paulo Abreu dos Santos, assistant to the former Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro, was arrested this Saturday on suspicion of pedophilia. The information was provided by CNN Portugal and has also been confirmed by Lusa. The suspect was remanded in pre-trial detention.
According to CNN, the former deputy of the former Minister of Health Catarina Sarmento e Castro is suspected of hundreds of crimes of pornography of minors and sexual abuse of children carried out by himself and filmed with a cell phone. The arrest was made by the Judiciary Police’s Cybercrime Combat Unit, in conjunction with the Lisbon Department of Investigation and Criminal Action.
The 38-year-old suspected pedophile was brought to court this Saturday and the judge ordered preventive detention. He was arrested after a search of his residence, where incriminating files were found. His name appeared in an international investigation on the Signal and Telegram platforms originating in the United States.
In addition to being a lawyer, more dedicated to the areas of corporate and commercial litigation, insolvency and arbitration, Paulo Abreu dos Santos is a guest assistant at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon.