An American man accused of horrific sex abuse against a boy that was allegedly captured in a viral video has now been cleared of all wrongdoing, according to Colombian authorities.
In a video that sparked global outrage and went viral on social media, the Texas man, 36, was filmed interacting with a young boy on a balcony in Bogota.
The woman recording the scene on her cellphone began yelling, believing she was watching the boy being sexually abused. Others soon joined in, cursing the man and demanding he stop.
Other footage on social media shows an angry mob of locals watching as the foreigner was taken away by police.
Now authorities in the South American country are saying the man never abused the boy and was in fact helping him.
‘Sexual violence against children is completely ruled out,’ Astrid Cáceres, director of the ICBF (Colombian institute for family welfare), told a Colombian news agency.
The boy on the balcony, and his two siblings who were also inside the apartment in the custody of the man, were medically evaluated and tested, officials added.
‘All forensic, physical, and psychological tests; interviews and other expert analyses carried out, and the judicial police activities performed, showed that there was no sexual abuse or physical violence. There are no elements that indicate criminal conduct,’ the nation’s top prosecutors said in a statement.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro told press that the American man had taken the boy outside on the balcony because he was choking on food.
‘It’s not very clear whether there was choking or not, but as far as we understand, the point is that the child got out to breathe,’ prosecutors said.
American Man Arrested in Colombia Over Child Sex Crime Caught on Video
‘This was an incident that occurred with the objects they were playing with, a conflict with the (sister,) and that’s when the child needed to get some air to breathe.’
The Texas man was released around 1 am this morning from police custody, according to Noticias Caracol, one of Colombia’s largest television broadcasters.
The Daily Mail knows the identity of the American, but is not releasing his name because he has not been charged with a crime.
Even though the American has been exonerated, now a second tragedy might be developing.
Colombian officials confirm the Lone Star State resident and his wife had been involved in a three-year process to adopt the three siblings, aged four, seven and 15
Now the adoption is on hold, as officials admit the American couple might be having second thoughts.
The 15-year-old girl defended the American couple to authorities, investigators revealed, helping to translate what the man was being accused of and also denying any wrong-doing.
The kids already called the Americans mom and dad, adoption officials said, adding that they five of them had already been through ‘a very important emotional process….to get to know each other.
‘There is an emotional bond that exists…at this stage of the process they already call their adoptive family parents,’ the official said.
