Cómo cazar a un monstruo

Action!

Hi, I'm Carles.

We're going to visit my town, El Masnou.

Let's go.

El Masnou is by the sea.

There's a big port in El Masnou, too.

Look at all the beautiful boats!

Now, we're in...

in...

Where are we?

I don't know. I don't remember.

-Aren't we at La Calàndria cinema? -Yeah!

La Calàndria is a cinema in my town, El Masnou.

I spent a lot of time there

because I've wanted to be a filmmaker since I was a kid.

-Now? -Yeah.

Emma!

When I was a kid, with friends and family, I made TV shows...

Back with Channel Tamayo.

...radio shows...

Hello, we're interviewing...

...and, above all, short films.

Hello, I'm Humphrey Bogart.

I made some of those short films at La Calàndria cinema.

Imagine how thrilled I was when the cinema manager, Lluís Gros,

gave me free posters and tickets.

I was especially thrilled when he showed my short films at the cinema.

My short films could now be seen on the same screen where I saw Harry Potter.

We're coming to Ràdio Premià de Mar.

I met Lluís when I was 16, volunteering at a local radio station.

We spoke with the businessman, Lluís Gros, at La Calàndria,

and he showed us how the cinema worked.

And this young man works there.

He wants to ask you some questions for Ràdio Premià.

I started reporting for Ràdio Premià.

We're on a mission: get something to eat.

I worked with other local media outlets until I started my own YouTube channel

for investigative reporting.

I'm in El Palmar de Troya.

And I didn't do too badly.

-Can I get a picture with you? -Hello, how are you? Sure.

Thanks a lot.

A selfie. Are you recording this?

-I'm recording, yeah. -Cool.

Your reports are awesome.

-Thanks. -Thank you.

Actually, everything went well until 2019, when everything blew up in my town.

More news. Sentencing has been passed

in the sexual abuse of minors case in El Masnou.

The judge sentenced the manager of El Masnou's cinema

to more than 23 years in prison.

The Court declared he took advantage of his position

to engage in sexual relations.

Carles, it's Lluís from the cinema.

Listen.

We have to talk quickly because I'm in a hurry.

So after two years with no contact at all, I'm going to meet with Lluís Gros,

who has been sentenced to more than 23 years in jail for multiple counts

of sexual abuse, prostitution, and corruption of minors.

HUNTING A MONSTER

CHAPTER 1 THE MONSTER CALLS

-Hi? How are you? -Carles?

Yeah, where are you?

Here at the cemetery.

Okay, I'll come to the cemetery now.

See you soon. Bye.

-Carles. -What's up?

Where are you?

I'm on foot because I scratched my car.

-Where are you now? -I'm here in front of the cemetery.

Hey, I can see you.

How is it going?

-I'll put the mic on you, so... -Already?

Count to ten.

One, two, three, four, five, six,

-seven, eight, nine, ten. -Good.

-Gosh, I scratched it bad. -Yeah?

These are the image rights we both have to sign.

I've followed everything about El Palmar de Troya.

I said, "Damn."

Damn it. What a damn scratch I made on the car. Shit.

-Okay, recording. -Okay.

-That one, too? -Yeah.

You called me for several days saying this was a matter of life or death,

-and I want to know why. -Yes.

Well, it isn't life or death.

I want to talk about my birth in the cinema

and my death in the cinema.

Why?

Well, because...

Well, I ended up in El Masnou.

They charged me with false accusations.

Everything ended very badly.

And, well, that was my death.

So you want me to make a video

-about your story, or just to be clear... -Yes.

I'm going to be honest.

When you were so insistent

-that I interview you... -Yeah.

...I thought the reason for the interview was, more than anything else,

for you to apologize.

I apologize to the people who believed

the press,

the media,

and their lies.

You maintain that nothing the media said is true.

No, it's not true.

Maybe I brought some things upon myself, but it's not true.

I was struck by your sentencing. I took notes.

There are several cases involving children who claimed you molested them

which have been proven 100%.

-It hasn't been proven because I... -Proven.

First, you asked two minors to get naked,

and then they said you masturbated.

There was another case with a 13-year-old boy.

When he turned 14, you told him you'd pay him more

if he had sex with you.

And he, the minor, agreed.

Another boy claimed that you performed fellatio on him

and had him, the minor, penetrate you anally.

What he said about penetration...

Listen, I can't...

It would be impossible for me to penetrate.

Let alone be penetrated by them.

Because I can't even use suppositories!

The search and seizure operation occurred

-in your... at the cinema. -At the cinema.

And they discovered a mattress there,

along with two heaters facing the mattress.

Multiple witnesses testified to that being the place where the sexual acts occurred.

Semen was found, as you have mentioned,

and also present was third-party semen from individuals never identified.

They found semen that wasn't yours

-or the boys'. -No.

It wasn't mine or the boys'.

-Whose was it? -How would I know?

How would I know?

Several boys who don't know each other

reported you and testified to having similar experiences.

Let's say that it was all just a series of coincidences, bad experiences

which led you to say what you've come to say here today.

-Okay. -The sentence was passed over a month ago.

-You should have already gone to jail. -Right.

-Why haven't you gone to jail yet? -I don't know.

You destroyed many of those boys' lives.

Won't you apologize to them?

If all that were true, I swear,

-I would say, "I failed." -You're going to spend 23 years in jail

-saying you're innocent and denying it. -I'm innocent!

I'm innocent! I deny it all! Please!

It's unbelievable.

I swear I thought this chat would've gone another way,

which was me trying to uncover your reasons for calling me so often

-over the last year. -Sure, first, I made myself...

Your sentence was given...

I see that you've made an in memoriam of your life,

which I won't be sharing because I won't spread the propaganda

of someone who's committed atrocities.

-Well, I didn't do it. -Fine.

-That's it. -What?

Okay?

Just one more thing.

I came by car, but I scratched it, and now I can't drive.

You haven't been able to drive for years, but you did it anyway.

I'll say it again in case I wasn't clear.

If you've been prohibited from contacting them,

I hope you won't try to do so.

But if you agree, we can record your apologies...

No. No.

Look.

Okay, no. Then, that's it.

I just wanted to be clear about what we thought we'd do.

Okay, Carles.

All right.

-Goodbye. -Bye.

Look, here are the photos from your 11th birthday party at the cinema.

Do you remember Lluís at the cinema?

I remember he was always at the cinema,

and he always said hi to my parents, my grandparents, my aunts, and my uncles.

He knew the whole family.

I remember he was an important person in town.

He seemed to be doing social work by hiring Moroccan kids.

He knew me as Carles' father.

He was always asking about Carles. "That boy is going to go far."

He was a really nice guy.

When you had the premiere, there were a lot of people at the cinema.

Look, that's Lluís. See?

Back there you can see he was really involved.

Once, when we went to buy tickets, he was yelling at his staff.

His personal relationship with his clients was excellent,

but his relationship with his staff could have been better.

And everyone knew his sexual assault case was pending appeal.

-You knew about his sexual assault case? -Yeah, because he told me.

But you believed what he said.

He told you about his sexual assault case?

Yes, and that...

And it looked like he'd be acquitted.

But tell the truth! He said they were all conspiring against him.

You're not explaining it all.

I didn't talk to him about a conspiracy.