Cops have arrested this popular gamer and influencer for rape of a minor on at least two occasions after he allegedly used his Fortnite live stream to lure child victims.
Online gamer Raulino de Oliveira Maciel was arrested for statutory rape in the Brazilian city of Florianopolis on Tuesday, 27th July.
Maciel, who goes by the pseudonym RaulZito, boasts 207,000 followers on Instagram, 118,000 followers on Twitch, and has a YouTube channel with 144,000 subscribers.
He is being investigated for several counts of statutory rape that allegedly took place in the Brazilian cities of Niteroi and Sao Caetano do Sul.
On the description of his YouTube channel, he writes that he plays alongside “young talents”, and it is believed he used his prominence in the online gaming world to lure his alleged victims.
RaulZito used his social media channels to live-stream himself playing Fortnite, an online video game released in 2017 that boasted 80 million active monthly users last year.
He used his experience and prowess to start a consultancy for young gamers ostensibly with the objective of finding and training up new talents in the gaming universe.
The banner of his YouTube channel shows a cartoon of RaulZito, who has a distinctive dyed blue head of hair and a dyed pink beard, smiling alongside a group of children.
He coloured his beard to commemorate his 50,000th subscriber and he dyed the hair on his head when he reached the 100,000 mark.
His team since last year, SBT Games, dropped him on the day of his arrest, writing in a statement that it “is awaiting clarification of the facts and the result of the investigation”.
The police say RaulZito contacted children online and promised access to jobs, presumably in the gaming universe. They say he also lied to them that he had been hired by a TV station.
At least two alleged victims testified to the police, but it is suspected the gamer had other underage victims.
It was not reported if the suspect remains in preventive custody.
