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A paedophile who was snared after seven years on the loose by DNA he handed over in a bid to become a Police Community Support Officer has been jailed for nine years.
Reinaldo Goncalo Bertoni Filho, 42, sexually assaulted girls aged 10 and 15 after approaching them in public in Surrey in 2017.
Both girls were able to escape from his grasp, but the identity of their attacker was initially a mystery.
However Filho, of Askew Road in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, essentially handed himself with a bid to join the police.
He was required to give DNA samples as part of the British Transport Police application process in 2024, and his records were then flagged as matching the two sex attacks seven years earlier.
At Guildford Crown Court on Friday, Filho was sentenced to nine years in prison for sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault of a child under 13. He must also serve an extra four years on licence after release.
The first attack was on a 15-year-old girl who was riding her bike in Hogsmill Open Space in Ewell in July 2017. The second incident involved a 10-year-old girl who was walking through Claygate Common in August 2017.
Rebecca Millardship from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Reinaldo Goncalo Bertoni Filho deliberately targeted children who were both in isolated spaces, where they should have been safe to enjoy themselves.
“What happened on those days has had a huge, long-lasting impact on every aspect of the lives of these two girls. They were left with memory flashbacks, terrified of men and fearful and anxious for years that they might see their attacker again, until Goncalo Bertoni Filho was arrested.
“One of the victims talked about how the attack had stolen her confidence, joy and safety. We hope that, with this sentence, both girls can now start to rebuild their lives, knowing their attacker has been brought to justice.”
The victim of the first attack managed to escape after biting Filho on the elbow and scratching his face, causing him to run off.
The ten-year-old victim said she was grabbed by a passing jogger, who pinned her against a tree.
She escaped by kicking him in the stomach, and ran away to tell a family friend what happened.
“His audacity at applying to join the British Transport Police as a PCSO defies belief, but it was this which ultimately led to being identified”, said Detective Sergeant Adele Robertson from the Surrey and Sussex Police Major Crime Team.