National karate coach arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting several minors on Costa del Sol
The victims have claimed that the abuse began when they were young children and it continued into their teens. Police have not ruled out that more may be more
The National Police have arrested a national karate coach as allegedly being responsible for several continuous crimes of sexual aggression against minors in Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol. The suspect is Lorenzo Marín, and according to SUR sources, at least four young people who were coached by the individual have reported that they began to suffer abuse when they were young children and that it continued until they were teenagers.
The case has been uncovered recently, although the alleged acts could date back to 2010, when the victims were around seven years old. The arrested man, aged 70, has a long history of teaching karate in Malaga province.
A decade ago he was appointed national coach in several categories, including cadet and junior and, according to the website of the Real Federación Española de Karate y Disciplinas Asociadas (Royal Spanish federation of karate and associated disciplines), he still is.
The victims, who are now teenagers, turned to the Redime association, which specialises in caring for people who have suffered child sexual abuse. It was this group, through its lawyer, María del Carmen Heredia, who brought the case to the attention of the National Police, and the matter is being investigated by members of its specialist minors unit.
According to the investigations, the suspect used his position as a coach to perpetrate the acts. He allegedly took advantage of the training camps for each competition to share a hotel room with his "favourite students", after which he abused them.
Similarly, according to the complainants' account, these acts were also committed in the training facilities, especially when the children were washing themselves down after the end of the sports session.
So far, four victims have been located who claim they were emotionally and psychologically manipulated from a very young age. The arrested person, in order to win them over and prevent them from revealing the facts, showered them with gifts and attention, giving them favourable treatment compared to the other pupils.
However, according to sources, it is suspected that there could be more victims given the lengthy career of the person under investigation, which is why the uncovering of new victims is not ruled out.
The suspect was arrested this week and, after being brought before the court on Thursday, he was remanded in custody without bail.
During a search carried out at his home, investigators seized 10 mobile phones, a desktop computer, a tablet device and three USB memory sticks, which were sent to the forensic computer group of the National Police's provincial headquarters in Malaga for analysis.
