A police photo of the material discovered after a search of the property Jaén.

Call it a case of honor among thieves. A tipoff from a burglar in Jaén province has allowed the police to arrest an alleged pedophile and place him in preventive custody.

The thief, whose identity remains unknown, broke into a house in Jaén city and escaped with several electrical items, among them a video camera and three tapes. So shocked was he when he watched the videos, which showed images of the inhabitant of the house sexually assaulting children under the age of 10, that he didn't hesitate in notifying the police from a public phone booth. He left the tapes, together with the address of their owner, for them in an envelope under a car.

"I had the misfortune of these tapes falling into my hands and feel the obligation to hand them over, leaving you to do your work and put this... in prison for life," the burglar wrote in the anonymous note he left for police.

After carrying out preliminary inquiries and watching the videos, officers identified their creator and, after searching his home and the soccer club where he worked, proceeded with his arrest. On Wednesday a Jaén magistrate ordered his detention. The arrested man had in fact reported the break-in at his house nine days before, saying the thief had entered through a window and stolen several electrical items. However, he failed to mention the stolen video camera and tapes.

So far, four of the children in the videos have been identified. According to the investigation, the arrested man allegedly won the confidence of the children at the sports complex where he worked and convinced them to watch pornographic films with him, before later sexually assaulting them.