A mother of 14 in Colombia tried to make ends
meet, police say, by pushing her daughters into
"hell" and selling their virginity for a couple hundred
dollars.
Margarita de Jesus Zapata Moreno, 45, was arrested
this week together with a 51-year-old contractor who
police believe impregnated one of the young
daughters.
She broke down in tears when she stood in front of
the cameras after being arrested in Bogota, the
Colombian capital. The Bogota Metropolitan Police
say Zapata sold the virginity of 12 daughters to
much older men seeking to have s*x with young
virgins.
Authorities also say the suspect would begin selling
her daughters to men as soon as the girls turned 12
years old. She charged anywhere between 300,000
and 400,000 Colombian Pesos ($160 to $212) for a
virgin.
But Zapata strongly denies the accusation.
Colombian authorities often show high-profile
suspects to the media shortly after arresting them.
When Zapata was standing in front of the cameras
Wednesday, one of the reporters shouted a question
to her: "Did you prostitute your daughters?" She
answered: "No, my darling."
Colombian police say they learned of this alleged
case of abuse because one of the alleged victims
stepped forward. Authorities say one of the suspect's
daughters forced into prostitution gave birth to a
baby boy when she was 14. She had refused her
mother's orders to have an abortion.
Colonel Carlos Melendez, a Bogota Metropolitan
Police spokesman, told CNN affiliate Caracol TV the
young girl described to investigators the "hell" in
which she lived when she was still a prepubescent
girl, about being forced to have s*x with much older
men in her home and about a life of abuse and
neglect.
"She was a minor and she still had the courage to
report the abuse and also to refuse to have an
abortion. That's when this investigation started, from
the threats of her own mother," Melendez said.
The investigation took more than a year to complete
because the only witness willing to testify, the 14-
year-old girl, now 16, disappeared, apparently
because she feared her mother would kill her for
going to the police.
After she reappeared, she also told authorities about
a man who had s*x with her and got her pregnant.
Police arrested a 51-year-old man who investigators
say fathered the son of the girl who was 14 years old
when the baby was born. The suspect declined to
comment at Wednesday's police presentation.
Police are asking the rest of the daughters to provide
more information about this case. "Those who are
watching or listening to us, we would like to ask
them to come to the police so that they give us
information about transpired in this case," Melendez
said.
Police investigators say Zapata also forced her older
daughters to drink alcohol and do drugs. Some ended
up working as prostitutes and are missing, police
said.
Police say those two arrests are only the beginning.
Investigators say they will also build cases against
the men who were having s*x with these minors.
According to authorities, only two of Margarita de
Jesus Zapata Moreno's 14 children were not forced
into prostitution. They were the two youngest -- an
11-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl -- and they have
been placed in the custody of a Colombian
government child protection agency.
meet, police say, by pushing her daughters into
"hell" and selling their virginity for a couple hundred
dollars.
Margarita de Jesus Zapata Moreno, 45, was arrested
this week together with a 51-year-old contractor who
police believe impregnated one of the young
daughters.
She broke down in tears when she stood in front of
the cameras after being arrested in Bogota, the
Colombian capital. The Bogota Metropolitan Police
say Zapata sold the virginity of 12 daughters to
much older men seeking to have s*x with young
virgins.
Authorities also say the suspect would begin selling
her daughters to men as soon as the girls turned 12
years old. She charged anywhere between 300,000
and 400,000 Colombian Pesos ($160 to $212) for a
virgin.
But Zapata strongly denies the accusation.
Colombian authorities often show high-profile
suspects to the media shortly after arresting them.
When Zapata was standing in front of the cameras
Wednesday, one of the reporters shouted a question
to her: "Did you prostitute your daughters?" She
answered: "No, my darling."
Colombian police say they learned of this alleged
case of abuse because one of the alleged victims
stepped forward. Authorities say one of the suspect's
daughters forced into prostitution gave birth to a
baby boy when she was 14. She had refused her
mother's orders to have an abortion.
Colonel Carlos Melendez, a Bogota Metropolitan
Police spokesman, told CNN affiliate Caracol TV the
young girl described to investigators the "hell" in
which she lived when she was still a prepubescent
girl, about being forced to have s*x with much older
men in her home and about a life of abuse and
neglect.
"She was a minor and she still had the courage to
report the abuse and also to refuse to have an
abortion. That's when this investigation started, from
the threats of her own mother," Melendez said.
The investigation took more than a year to complete
because the only witness willing to testify, the 14-
year-old girl, now 16, disappeared, apparently
because she feared her mother would kill her for
going to the police.
After she reappeared, she also told authorities about
a man who had s*x with her and got her pregnant.
Police arrested a 51-year-old man who investigators
say fathered the son of the girl who was 14 years old
when the baby was born. The suspect declined to
comment at Wednesday's police presentation.
Police are asking the rest of the daughters to provide
more information about this case. "Those who are
watching or listening to us, we would like to ask
them to come to the police so that they give us
information about transpired in this case," Melendez
said.
Police investigators say Zapata also forced her older
daughters to drink alcohol and do drugs. Some ended
up working as prostitutes and are missing, police
said.
Police say those two arrests are only the beginning.
Investigators say they will also build cases against
the men who were having s*x with these minors.
According to authorities, only two of Margarita de
Jesus Zapata Moreno's 14 children were not forced
into prostitution. They were the two youngest -- an
11-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl -- and they have
been placed in the custody of a Colombian
government child protection agency.
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