Brazilian police holding the man accused of raping and murdering a New Zealand toddler are moving him to a top security jail for his own safety.
The regional head of tourist police in Porto Seguro, Teronite Bezerra, told a local newspaper that there was a risk that other prisoners in the local jail would mete out rough justice.
Luzzinei Araujo Santos, 24, has confessed to killing three-year-old Cloe Paroli while she was on holiday at a Trancoso beach resort with her parents New Zealander Karl Joseph Paroli, 31, of Napier, and his Brazilian partner Luciana de Vasconcelos Macedo Muratori, 33, last December.
Police said Cloe was found near mangroves, but showed signs of anal and vaginal rape.
Mr Paroli told the AFP newsagency that the local Brazilian police who initially were responsible for investigation of the crime delayed for weeks over arresting the suspect.
He singled out the head of the local military police near Trancoso where they had been staying for allegedly blocking attempts to have the crime investigated.
"The guy should not be a policeman. He should be selling coconuts on the beach," Mr Paroli said in Sao Paulo, where he is now living with his Ms Muratori.
Santos was reported in local media as having knelt on the floor and confessed, saying he had been in the grip of a devil when he raped the girl.
"He said he thought she was dead and threw her in the river," Mr Bezerra said.
But a post mortem examination showed water in her lungs, making it likely she had still been alive on entering the water. The New Zealand embassy confirmed to AFP it had stepped in to liaise with police. A senior official at the embassy who declined to be named called the crime "horrific".
Mr Paroli said he had been pressured to keep quiet about the rape and murder, but he and his partner decided to go public to explain their struggle for justice.
One television programme screened on Sunday used a hidden camera to record the head of the local military police blaming Cloe's parents for what happened to her, saying she had been left alone to play in the garden while Mr Paroli slept in the villa.
The officer also claimed he did not have the resources to investigate all the murders in his district, and that Cloe's case had received undue attention because Mr Paroli was a foreigner.
Mr Paroli said his policeman brother had flown over from New Zealand to help in the matter but left frustrated with what he saw.
