Illegal Immigrant Soccer Coach Accused of Raping Multiple Children in Tennessee

Children playing soccer in a field in a stock photo (Jewl Samad/Getty Images )

A Tennessee man who has allegedly lived illegally in the United States for two decades was charged with drugging and raping various boys after restaurant workers discovered a phone he left behind contained hundreds of photos and videos of his crimes, according to the Franklin Police Department.

The man, identified as Camilo Hurtado Campos, 63, was a popular soccer coach in the community for the past 20 years, police said.

Campos was discovered to enter the United States illegally, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and other members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation said in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“In a complete breakdown of the rule of law, Campos was allowed to remain in the country even though he has a criminal record, having previously been charged with public intoxication and three instances of driving without a license,” Blackburn said in the statement (pdf). “While this administration has spent years defending its failed border policies as compassionate and humane, there is nothing compassionate about policies that allow a child sexual predator and serial rapist to remain in an American community undetected for more than two decades.”

She added, “The simple fact remains: if Camilo Campos had been arrested at any point in the past twenty years for his violation of federal law, these precious children would not have been subjected to his horrific abuse.”

Phone Left Behind

The shocking series of events unfolded when staff at a local restaurant stumbled upon a misplaced cell phone left behind by a customer, later determined to be Campos.

In an attempt to locate the owner and return the phone, the workers innocently reviewed its contents, only to be confronted with the horrifying discovery of dozens of unconscionable videos and pictures depicting children, leading them to call local police.

The department uncovered a trove of disturbing videos and images on Campos’s phone, many of which showed the soccer coach raping unconscious boys aged between approximately 9 and 17 years old, a press release stated.

During his leisure hours, Franklin Police said Campos frequented nearby school playgrounds in the two neighborhoods he lived in during his time in Franklin, leveraging his role as a coach to approach and recruit children for his team. Campos then exploited their trust by inviting them to his home, where he drugged and subjected them to the abuse.

Many Victims May Be Unaware

The investigation into Campos and his actions is currently underway as Franklin authorities work to identify multiple young children who have fallen victim to Campos.

Thus far, authorities have identified ten victims of assault through the videos discovered on Campos’s phone. Working closely with local schools, detectives have managed to positively identify two of these victims.

Camilo Hurtado Campos. (Photo Courtesy of Franklin, Tenn. Police Department)

Detectives involved in the case have expressed deep concern that the children featured in these horrifying videos may not even realize that they have been victims of abuse due to their unconscious state during the assaults.

Detectives say that the children in these videos were in such an unconscious state, that they might not even realize that they are victims.

Campos is currently in police custody facing charges of raping a child and sexual exploitation of a minor. Detectives are expecting to file several additional charges as the investigation progresses.

Campos Immigrated Illegally

Meanwhile, the letter (pdf) addressed to Secretary Mayorkas from the Tennessee Congressional delegation has shed light on an alarming aspect of the case, which the delegation said in their letter was “disgust[ing].”

The letter criticizes the Biden administration’s immigration policies and questions DHS’s awareness of the perpetrator’s immigration status and their actions to address his presence in the country.

“Violence against children is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and Tennesseans deserve to know why the Department of Homeland Security permitted this criminal to live in their community and abuse their children after entering the country illegally,” the delegation wrote. “This administration must do more to protect our children and secure our southern border.”

The letter emphasizes that the prevention of this heinous abuse was entirely possible if proper enforcement of federal law had been in place. They add this one man’s crimes highlight the devastating consequences of allowing individuals with criminal records to remain undetected in American communities, endangering innocent lives.

Identifying Further Victims

The task of identifying and supporting these young victims is of utmost importance to authorities, the press release stated. Franklin Police urge those who were associated with or have a child associated with Campos, especially if he has been the child’s coach, the department should be contacted at [phone].