NEW YORK — A Portuguese male model has been charged with second-degree murder in the gruesome attack on prominent Portuguese journalist while the two men were visiting New York City.

Carlos Castro, 65, a gay rights activist, events organizer and journalist whose work has appeared in Portuguese media, was found dead Friday, bludgeoned to death and castrated in the hotel room the couple was sharing, according to the New York Post.

Renato Seabra, 21, was detained by police within hours of the body being discovered Friday evening at the InterContinental New York Times Square hotel.

The model told investigators that he beat, kicked and punched the helpless Castro for more than an hour as the older man lay on the floor of the 34th-floor room. Seabra then allegedly bashed Castro in the head with a heavy computer monitor. Seabra took a wine corkscrew to mutilate his victim, plunging it into one of Castro’s eyes and then using it to cut off his testicles, sources said.

Seabra allegedly admitted to police that he told Castro, “I’m not gay anymore!” before attacking the older man, telling him that he was not gay and was only using him for his money and influence.

“He said he did it to get rid of [Castro’s] homosexual demons,” according to police sources.

The couple had been dating since October, sources said, and was supposed to be vacationing in New York through Jan. 15, according to the Post.

Seabra is a model, best known as a contestant on a Portuguese model-hunting realty TV show. He is in police custody and undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.