Murder of Boy, 10, by His Soccer Coach After Sexual Abuse Shocks Uruguay
The murder of Felipe Romero, 10, at the hands of his soccer coach Fernando Sierra has shocked the country of Uruguay.
The body of the child was found in a town near Montevideo. According to the local police chief, Sierra shot the boy in the head and then shot himself dead.
“The adult had his back to the ground and the boy, face down, was partially holding the man with his head near his chest,” Sergio Mozzo, who was in charge of the autopsy, told BBC World. Mozzo also declared that the boy had been sexually abused on different occasions. “There was a violation. The marks that were found in the child showed erosion that possibly were from the same day or the previous day. He had signs of previously being abused repeatedly around the dimensions of the genital area. ”
In addition to the tests of the violation, tranquilizers were found, which Sierra used on the child, according to authorities.
The friendship between the boy and the coach began in 2015 when Sierra began training in the “Club Defensor Maldonado.” He became friends with the family and grew a bond-deep enough to the point where the little boy was calling him “dad.”
Felipe’s mother Alexandra Perez and father Luis Romero, a former famous soccer player approved of this friendship at the start.
Things went downhill when Felipe went on vacation to Brazil with Sierra. Upon their return, the mother consulted a psychologist who advised her not to let her son interact with his coach anymore. Before the murder, Perez spoke with Sierra and forbade him from seeing her son.
“If I cannot see Felipe, I’ll kill myself,” Sierra told Perez. After the altercation, the coach rented a car, picked up the child at school and they both disappeared until their bodies were found.
According to Judge Adriana Morisini, authorities will continue the investigation until they know what led Sierra to allegedly kill the child. Interviews will be made with relatives of both parties, the psychologist and the school principal.
Until now it was unknown why Felipe’s mother decided to call the psychologist.
The trainer had no criminal record and the weapon used was not his.
