18 Ecuadoreans Arrested for Child Pornography, Organized Crime

Eighteen Ecuadoreans suspected of human trafficking have been arrested in connection with the death of a nine-year-old girl in December.

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Officers from the special 'Southern Network' unit launched an investigation following the disappearance of nine-year-old Emilia Benavides, from Loja. Her incinerated remains were discovered in the city days later.

Investigators determined there was a national network of traffickers involved in child pornography, kidnapping and murder, said Prosecutor Bella Castillo, the judge overseeing Benavides' case. Ten suspects were arrested in Loja, three in Cuenca, two in Quito, two in Manabi, and one in Santo Domingo de Los Tsachilas.

After interviewing one suspect, police said the case may extend beyond Ecuador's borders: the suspect claims he was paid US$4,000 by an international criminal organization to abduct Bernavides in order to create pornographic material. Her age and physical characteristics fit the desired demographic, he said.

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"We have sufficient evidence for a conviction to prove they were part of a network dedicated to pornography, in which, unfortunately, crimes committed against the integrity of girls were committed," Castillo said.

In Benavides' case, crimes of child abuse related to pornography have been added to the preliminary femicide charges, which amount to a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

The other girls who disappeared also match Benavides' description. Because multiple victims were involved and a litany of crimes committed, the case will proceed as one regarding organized crime, the Prosecutor's Office said.

"We are facing a femicide that, in legal terms, we recognize as 'non-intimate femicide' because this has been committed by an aggressor who had no relationship with the victim," Castillo said.