Colombia: Man jailed for sexual abuse of 276 children

A Colombian man who admitted sexually abusing nearly 300 children has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Juan Carlos Sánchez Latorre committed the crimes in 2007-08, a court in the city of Barranquilla ruled.

Sánchez Latorre, in his late 30s, used the alias Big Bad Wolf to share images and videos of the abuse online.

He was arrested in Venezuela a year ago with a fake identity card after five years on the run.

During the trial, Sánchez Latorre pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 276 boys and girls.

Prosecutors said he had approached his victims online and then met them at shopping centres, offering them money in exchange for sexual contact.

If they refused, they were often attacked, the prosecutors said.

The authorities believe Sánchez Latorre committed other crimes in Venezuela before being finally arrested in the city of Maracaibo and extradited to Colombia in September 2018.

His neighbours said they had never suspected that he could be a dangerous paedophile.