Anger as third ‘Fritzl’ arrested

A COLOMBIAN accused of sexually abusing his daughter from a young age and fathering eight children with her was arrested at the weekend, causing anger over the lack of child protection in the Andean nation.

Arcebio Alvarez, 58, told a judge he was innocent, saying his accuser was not his biological daughter.

He was held in custody while the children, three boys and five girls, were put under state protection.

He was transported to jail under military guard to keep angry crowds at bay.

Earlier, Alvarez was led away in handcuffs by agents from Colombia’s attorney general’s office after Alba Nidia Alvarez, the 35-year-old woman who claims to be his biological daughter, told police he had abused her since she was less than 10 years.

Alba Nidia, from the central Colombian town of Mariquita, said an evangelical Christian pastor had convinced her to come forward about the suspected abuse.

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 the local press. The eight children are between the ages of one and 19.

The story recalls Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man sentenced to life in a mental unit for confining and raping his daughter for 24 years, fathering seven children with her and causing the death of his infant son.

Also at the weekend, Italian media identified Michele Mongelli, aged 63 and his son Guiseppi Mongelli, aged 40 as the men arrested by Italian police for the alleged sexual abuse of their daughters.

Child welfare advocates have called for a sentence of life in prison should Alvarez be convicted.