Police are working to identify several children a 63-year-old man is accused of drugging and raping in Franklin, Tennessee.
Law enforcement said Camilo Hurtado Campos was a “popular soccer coach” who is currently being held for Rape of a Child and Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, the agency announced in a press release Sunday, noting more charges are expected in the case.
An image shows the accused:
A local restaurant alerted police when employees found a cell phone a customer left behind. The customer was later identified as Campos.
While workers searched through the device to gather information to find the owner in order to return it, they came upon dozens of videos and pictures of children, the agency said.
“During an immediate and tireless investigation, Detectives found hundreds of disturbing videos and pictures on that phone. In many of them, Campos recorded himself raping unconscious boys between approximately 9 and 17 years old,” the release stated.
The man has lived in the area for 20 years and frequently went to playgrounds where he approached children to recruit them for his soccer team. Campos gained their trust in order to invite some of them to visit his residence where he allegedly drugged and raped them.
“The rapes of at least 10 children have been found on Campos’s phone, so far. Working with local schools, Detectives have identified two of his victims. Police hope that those familiar with Campos can help them put a name with the faces of the remaining victims,” law enforcement said.
When NBC News showed people the photo of Campos and asked if they knew him, one man said, “I remember when we were little he used to invite us but we never went and played with him.”
Community members also told the outlet Campos used to live in a housing unit between two schools and across the street from soccer fields.
Per the news release, it is possible the children recorded were so unconscious they may not even know they were victimized, investigators said.
Now, police are asking anyone associated with the suspect to contact them at (615) 794-2513.
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) website, “Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse that includes sexual activity with a minor. A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity, period.”
In addition, “The sexual abuse and exploitation of children rob the victims of their childhood, irrevocably interfering with their emotional and psychological development,” the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs website states.