In early 2012, a Colombian family reported her 7-year-old girl missing. They didn't know it at the time, but, allegedly, a Colombian school bus driver named Carlos Humberto Grisales Higuita abducted her. Grisales would psychologically and sexually abuse the girl for 12 years, changing her name and humiliating her daily. The girl, however, managed to escape, and Grisales now faces several charges.
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"The man, who worked as a school bus driver, allegedly detained a 7-year-old girl in early 2012 and took her to a house in the city center," said the prosecution, according to Fox News. "He allegedly psychologically manipulated and sexually assaulted her, making her believe that such behavior was normal."
The girl managed to escape back in February of 2024 after Grisales allegedly imprisoned her in a house after she complained about Grisales's treatment of her. Once out of Grisales's clutches, she reported him to the authorities, after years of abuse.
"When she turned 16, she complained to the alleged aggressor about the treatment she received, and in retaliation, she was allegedly locked up in a house, from which she managed to escape in February of this year," prosecutors continued.
Grisales Arrested
According to several reports, Grisales changed the then 7-year-old's name and continuously transferred her from several buildings around Medellin and Antioquia. Her family lost all contact with her and she didn't attend school.
Medellin police then arrested Grisales Higuita and prosecutors charged him with several serious crimes: simple kidnapping, sexual abuse with a minor under 14 years of age, sexual acts with a minor under 14 years of age, and pornography with a person under 18 years of age. According to the prosecutors, Carlos Humberto Grisales Higuita did not accept the charges presented against him.
In heartbreaking statistics, a 2018 Violence Against Children and Youth Survey revealed that 15 percent of girls and 8 percent of boys in Colombia had experienced sexual violence. Moreover, from 2015 to 2018, the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensics Sciences in Colombia reported 55 daily cases of sexual violence against minors. However, in 2019, the average went up to 118 cases per day.
