Authorities in Argentina have arrested a 42-year-old man accused of sexually abusing six boys over a decade in the western suburbs of Buenos Aires, while Colombian prosecutors are examining a separate allegation that a former presidential candidate abused an eight-year-old girl. The two cases, unrelated but surfacing within days of each other, have drawn attention to the use of positions of trust to target minors.

In the Argentine case, federal police detained Carlos Alberto Ávalos Vallejo, a Paraguayan national who worked as a builder, in the Parque San Martín area of Merlo on 18 July. Investigators say the six male victims, all from the local Paraguayan community, were abused between March 2014 and October 2024 in his home in Mariano Acosta. One child had a diagnosed developmental delay. According to the prosecution, the suspect gained the families’ trust and then threatened the boys with a machete and a rifle to ensure silence, warning he would kill their relatives. The abuse came to light after one victim displayed learning difficulties and a psychologist detected signs consistent with sexual abuse. Relatives later set fire to the suspect’s house before he fled. He was located at a nephew’s home and placed in pre-trial detention by a judge in Morón. Argentine media reports differ on the precise charges: some cite aggravated sexual abuse and corruption of minors, while others specify rape aggravated by mental harm. The suspect has not yet entered a plea.

In Colombia, the attorney general’s office confirmed it is investigating a criminal complaint filed against Carlos Caicedo, a former governor of Magdalena department, former mayor of Santa Marta, and 2022 presidential candidate. The mother of a girl who was eight at the time alleges that in July 2023, Caicedo was alone with the child in a flat and that she later observed him with his trousers open and visibly aroused. She also claims he threatened to throw her from a ninth-floor balcony and later sent money and messages pressuring her to hand over the child. The case was initially handled in Santa Marta but was transferred to prosecutors delegated to the Supreme Court because Caicedo held the governorship at the time of the alleged acts. The investigation remains in a preliminary phase; no charges have been filed, and Caicedo has made no public statement. The mother’s legal representative, former CTI director Julián Quintana, said the family fears for its safety. One detail in the complaint—a reference to the child speaking out in February 2026—appears to be a typographical error, as that date has not yet occurred.

Both inquiries are at an early stage. In Argentina, the detained man awaits formal indictment while prosecutors gather evidence. In Colombia, investigators are verifying the complaint and have not ordered any restrictive measures. No judicial determination of guilt has been made in either case.