American citizen released, faces no charges after accusations of abuse in Colombia
Colombian authorities have released a U.S. citizen without charges after he was arrested on Sunday on allegations of sexually abusing a child in Bogota.
An official report from the prosecutor’s office determined “there had been no sexual abuse and no physical violence,” and “no evidence indicating criminal conduct,” according to the Colombian news outlet Noticias Caracol, a CBS News partner,
The man, a 36-year-old from Texas, was initially accused of abusing a 7-year-old boy on a balcony in broad daylight.
A video circulated widely on social media showing a man holding a child next to the railing of a balcony at a residential building in an upscale neighborhood in northern Bogota.
“He’s abusing the child, let him go!” shouted the woman filming the video, as several others also yelled at the man. Dozens of people gathered Sunday at the entrance of the building to demand his arrest.
Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said Sunday that a person had been taken into police custody. But Colombian President Gustavo Petro issued a statement Monday night casting doubts on the accusations.
Petro, in a lengthy post on X, said that the man “apparently did not” abuse any children. He said the man had taken the child out onto the balcony because the child was choking on food. Petro appeared to blame the incident on artificial intelligence and “computer manipulation.”
Three children were found by authorities when they entered the suspect’s apartment and were taken to a medical center to be evaluated, Galan said in a post on X. Sources told CBS News that the man may have adopted the children, which could explain how they came to be in his custody.
Colombia’s state agency for child protection confirmed that the three children were in its care while the investigation unfolded.
“The National Institute of Legal Medicine confirmed that there had been no sexual violence. Given the speed with which we were able to respond, any form of sexual violence against the three children has been ruled out,” Asrid Cáceres, the director of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, said in a interview with Noticias Caracol (translated from the Spanish).
“When we saw them at the hospital, they appeared quite calm about what had happened. Their accounts were consistent, they were playing, and the pediatrician gave me an initial report that was reassuring. That assessment was later confirmed as the investigation progressed, which allows us to be at ease. That is the most important thing: the alleged incident did not occur,” said Cáceres, whose agency is responsible for child welfare and adoption services.
She said members of the public should not be discouraged from reporting suspicions if they believe a child may be in danger, but she added, “What happened afterward on social media, and the shouting fueled by assumptions from people who had not even witnessed the situation, became quite aggressive. … Those are the kinds of things that should not happen.”
Several high-profile cases of children being exploited by foreigners in recent years have put the local government in Colombia on guard against sex tourism. The South American nation turned away around 100 foreigners who traveled for sex tourism in the first half of 2026, according to authorities.
