The Álvarez incest case was uncovered late March 2009 when 59-year-old Arcedio Álvarez was arrested in Mariquita, Colombia, accused of imprisoning and sexually abusing his daughter Alba Nidia Álvarez over a period of 25 years, beginning from when she was nine years old.[1] The daughter also gave birth to 14 children, six of whom died due to lack of medical care.[2][3]
Perpetrator
editArcedio Álvarez Quintero (1950–2011) was a convicted child molester and sex offender from Mariquita, Colombia. He grew up farming with his family, becoming a farmer himself as an adult.[4]
In 2009, Álvarez was prosecuted for molesting and abusing his biological daughter for years, resulting in 14 children, six of whom died due to malnutrition and lack of proper care. Álvarez claimed that his crimes were part of "God's plan"[5] and furthermore denied any biological relationship to the victim, but this was later disproved by DNA testing.[6] Álvarez became known as "the Monster of Mariquita" and "the Colombian Fritzl", after infamous Austrian murderer, rapist, and child molester Josef Fritzl.[7]
Crime
editAfter the death of Álvarez's wife, he began to abuse his young daughter Nidia. The rapes are believed to have started when she was about seven years old, and continued for roughly 26 years,[8] resulting in 14 pregnancies, the first when Nidia was just 13 years old.[8][9] Of the 14 children to come from this abuse, six died due to denial of medical care by Álvarez. Álvarez never allowed his daughter to leave their home unsupervised, and would often tell her that their relationship was simply "God's will".[10] As the children grew, Álvarez allegedly began to assault his young daughters and may have been grooming his sons to do the same.[7][8]
Victims
editArcedio Álvarez's victims included his daughter Alba Nidia, 35 at the time of the trial,[11] and her children by him who were also his grandchildren. Alba Nidia grew up poor in their small home in rural central Colombia.[12][13][9] Álvarez reportedly taught her to read and write, but neither she nor her children were allowed to attend school.[14][7] All her children were born at home,[15] and six of them died in childhood, when Álvarez refused to take them to the hospital.[7] Of the eight surviving children (five girls and three boys),[15] the oldest was 19 years old at the time of the trial, and the youngest was only a few months old.[9]
Investigation
editArcedio Álvarez was arrested in March 2009, after Alba Nidia left town with her six youngest children. The two eldest children had wanted to stay.[14] She then admitted to a child welfare worker the sexual abuse she had endured for almost 30 years.[16][17] Local councilwoman Gilma Jiménez made public the extreme conditions in which Alba and her children were living with her father, and how poor their health was.[18] The investigation later revealed that many in the rural area where they lived knew of the suspicious things occurring and had not said anything about it.[19]
When the case first came to light, Álvarez repeatedly claimed that Alba Nidia was adopted. However, several lab tests proved that Alba Nidia was Álvarez's biological daughter.[6] He also claimed that he and Alba Nidia had a consensual, loving romantic relationship.[20]
During the investigation, Álvarez needed police protection when attending his court dates due to the hatred the community felt toward him. He was found guilty of crimes against his daughter and their children, and was eventually sentenced to a minimum of fifteen years in prison.[21] Álvarez died in 2011.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ 'Colombian Fritzl' - Eight Kids With Daughter Archived 2011-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Colombia shocked by incest case
- ^ "Now, 'Colombian Fritzl' who fathered 8 kids with daughter surfaces". Archived from the original on 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ "Arcedio Alvarez, padre de los 11 hijos de su hija". Diarioya.es.
- ^ "Colombian 'Fritzl' tells daughter their sex is 'God's will'". smh.com. 29 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Paternity confirmed in Colombian incest case". ABC News. 21 April 2009.
- ^ a b c d "The Daughter of the Colombian Monster". semana.com. 29 April 2009.
- ^ a b c Alsema, Adriaan (4 September 2009). "'Monster of Mariquita' found guilty of incest and rape". Colombiareports.com.
- ^ a b c Muse, Toby. "Colombian father accused of decades long incest, rape". cnn.com.
- ^ "Incest accusations shock Colombia". news.bbc.co.uk. 30 March 2009.
- ^ Alsema, Adriaan (30 March 2009). "The story of Alba Nidia and her monstrous dad". colombiareports.com.
- ^ Bronstein, Hugh (29 March 2009). "Colombia rocked by father-daughter incest case". reuters.com.
- ^ Latza Nadeau, Barbie (31 March 2009). "Are there more Dungeon Dads?". The Daily Beast.
- ^ a b "Así se descubrió a Arcedio Álvarez, agresor sexual de su propia hija". ELESPECTADOR.COM (in Spanish). 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
- ^ a b "Colombian father accused of decades-long incest, rape - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
- ^ colombiareports (2009-03-30). "The story of Alba Nidia and her monstruous dad". Colombia News | Colombia Reports. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
- ^ "Muere en prision el violador colombiano que procreo ocho hijos con su hija". elmundo.es.
- ^ Garzon Roa, Olga Lucia. "Asi se descubrio a arcedio Alvarez, aggressor sexual de su propia hija". elespectador.com.
- ^ Schmidlin, Cristopher. "Arcedio Alvarez, el "Monstruo de Mariquita": violo y encerro por 30 anos a su propia hija". pagina7.cl.
- ^ Nadeau, Barbie Latza (2009-03-31). "Are There More Dungeon Dads?". Retrieved 2019-03-12.
- ^ Valencia, Javier Emilio (2009-10-02). "Monster of Mariquita sentenced to 15 years". Colombia News | Colombia Reports. Retrieved 2019-03-11.