FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Staff of a Franklin pizza parlor found a phone left behind by a customer and looked through it, hoping to find its owner. They were met with something much more terrible than expected.
The phone held hundreds of of inappropriate videos and pictures of children, including videos of the rapes of at least 10 children, according to Franklin Police.
Police identified Camilo Hurtado Campos, a 63-year-old soccer coach in Franklin, as the owner of the phone. He has lived in Franklin for 20 years. Now, he is being held in jail on charges of rape of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor.
Many of the videos detectives found show Campos raping unconscious boys between the ages of 9 and 17-years-old, according to police.
On June 22 at Marco's Pizza in Cool Springs, a customer left an unlocked phone on the counter. The worker didn't know Spanish, so a worker looked at photos to see if they recognized who left it.
"He was calling me and he was explaining to me it’s horrible, it’s horrible, it’s horrible. He didn’t go in-depth. He said I don’t even want to tell you what I saw in here but it was so bad," General manager and part-owner Amanda Williams said.
Williams said the accused rapist came back to the pizza parlor the next day.
"He was shaking, his hands were shaking," Williams said.
She grabbed a photo of his license plate and called police. Authorities arrested Campos for child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor.
"It’s so sad — I feel for the families and the victims," Williams said.
Franklin Police Department officials said two out of 10 victims have been identified and they're in their 20s now.
"This has gone on for a long time,” Franklin Police spokesperson Lt. Charlie Warner said, “Because a lot of the kids that are in these videos, they are in such a comatose state, that they may not even realize that they were ever victimized."
Police said Campos would go to playgrounds to recruit players to his soccer team. He was a popular coach in the Latino community.
"We know that this suspect was gaining trust of kids, endearing some of their parents’ hearts, taking them to his home drugging and raping them,” Warner said.
For perspective, the suspect lived on Glass Lane across from some soccer fields and next to Johnson Elementary. According to the Franklin Special Schools District, he didn't coach at Freedom Intermediate School or the elementary school.
“We are heartbroken for the families who are affected by Mr. Campos’ alleged criminal acts," FSSD officials said in a statement. "Franklin Police indicated in its release that the suspect allegedly recruited from area playgrounds and soccer fields after school and on the weekends. He was never employed by our school district to coach any of our teams. We really don’t have any other information but will assist in the FPD investigation in any way we can if requested.”
At one point the suspect also lived in the Hill Estates neighborhood. Police hope those who know Campos can help them put a name with the faces of those remaining.
“This is really one of the most egregious child sex cases that we have seen in Franklin," Warner said.
Warner said that Campos said in an interview he did not have citizenship in the United States.
If you or your child have been associated with Campos through the years, especially if he has been your child’s coach, Franklin Police want to hear from you at (615) 794-2513, or you can start an email conversation.
