(Trends Wide) — An investigation into a Tennessee man accused of videotaping himself raping unconscious children has shown that “there could be a decade of victims,” a police spokesperson told Trends Wide.
Camilo Hurtado Campos, 63, is being held in Franklin, Tennessee, accused of rape of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor. The arrest came after he left his phone at a restaurant and employees found “dozens of videos and images of inordinate children” on the device as they tried to determine its owner, Franklin police said Sunday.
Police said Campos “recorded himself raping unconscious children” and that evidence of the rapes of at least 10 boys, who appeared to be between 9 and 17 years old, was found on the phone. Investigators identified three of the recorded victims, he claimed Franklin Police.
In addition to those 10 minors, five other people have come forward to say they were victims, Franklin police said Monday.
Camilo Hurtado Campos was arrested and is being held on charges of rape of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor, police in Franklin, Tennessee say. (Credit: Franklin Police Department)
And “the people who were victims in some of the recordings that have been released are now in their 20s,” Franklin police Lt. Charles Warner told Trends Wide Tuesday.
“If you do the math, there could be a decade of victims that we don’t know about,” Warner said. He noted that Campos has lived in the Franklin area for about 20 years.
Additional charges are expected to be filed, police said.
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Investigators are reviewing hundreds of photos and videos found on Campos’ phone, Warner told Trends Wide.
The victims who have been identified are male, and the majority are Hispanic, according to the lieutenant.
“There are definitely more (victims),” Warner said. “We are in the early stages of this investigation, and this could be the tip of the iceberg.”
Police initially reported Campos as a “popular soccer coach,” but Warner said the suspect’s affiliation with local soccer teams is “ambiguous” and investigators have not been able to confirm that he worked as a coach at local schools or soccer leagues. organized soccer.
Investigators believe Campos approached his victims near parks or soccer fields and told them he was a coach who wanted to recruit them, according to police.
“We know that he wore the guise of the fact that he was a football coach … and that’s how he would become friends with them,” Warner said.
Police intend to work closely with the victims and their families to process the “terrible chain of events” and come to closure, Warner said.
“The people who are coming forward have felt so much shame, so much terror, and it’s very difficult, I’m sure, to remember and process something so traumatic that happened to you, whether it was yesterday or 10 years ago,” Warner said.
Campos’ bail was set at $525,000, a spokesman for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said. The county clerk told Trends Wide on Tuesday that an attorney for Campos had not yet been listed. The man is expected to appear in court on July 25.
Police urge families to talk to children and introduce themselves
Warner implored families to speak with their children and contact police if they believe their son may have had any affiliation with Campos.
Police say they believe Campos drugged his victims. Because of this, children may not know they are victims even if they have been to the Campos home, Warner said.
“The combination of drugs that he was using … was so powerful that he definitely knew what he was doing, because he was able to render these children incredibly unconscious,” Warner said.
Police said some victims told them they didn’t show up sooner because they thought it would be costly for them to do so.
“That breaks our hearts, that there is a disconnect in the community,” Warner said.
“We are there to serve crime victims and it costs them nothing,” Warner said. “We want people to know that our services are unlimited and without obligation, and that they can come to us.”
— Trends Wide’s Eli Masket and Mitchell McCluskey contributed to this report.
