Quepos mayor arrested again on underage porn charges

Agents of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) in the Trafficking of Persons Unit section re-arrested Lutgardo Bolaños, the erstwhile mayor of Aguirre Municipality, which includes the popular beach towns of Quepos and Manuel Antonio, on the central Pacific coast. Bolaños was arrested Thursday along with his driver and three new suspects on child pornography and embezzlement charges, according an OIJ report.

Bolaños and his driver were first arrested Dec. 21 after what the OIJ described as a four-month investigation. The men allegedly used public funds to tour the country in rented cars and hire underage girls to perform in pornographic videos. OIJ agents raided both Bolaños’ and his driver’s house in December, and according to OIJ reports, seized hundreds of CDs and a personal computer containing pornographic videos.

Bolaños, who became mayor of Aguirre in February, posted bail soon after his arrest.

Thursday’s arrests included two men, one of whom was another municipal employee, Reymundo Herrera, and Jimmy Acuña, identified in the OIJ report as a bar owner. A woman, Vilma Campos, who according to the OIJ report may have been a recruiter of girls from different parts of the country for purposes of making pornography, was also arrested. The OIJ report described the group as a “band organized with the goals of human trafficking.”

The mayor’s re-arrest came after OIJ agents located four victims, three between the ages of 14 and 15 and another who just turned 18 in recent days, the report said.

Bolaños and his driver were transferred into the custody of the Public Prosecutor’s Office with the request that they be given preventive detention, the report said.