A YouTuber who was under investigation for allegedly having child abuse images on his phone has ended his life.
Paulo Cezar Goulart Siqueira, perhaps better known as PC Siqueira, was found dead by his former girlfriend Maria Watanabe in his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday. He was 37 years old. His death has reportedly been ruled a suicide by coroners.
Assisted by a neighbor, Siqueira's partner called the police to report the tragedy, Metro reports.
He was under investigation for allegedly sharing images depicting child abuse after a private message exchange was leaked in 2020.
Siqueira, who had two million YouTube subscribers, had always vehemently refuted the allegation.
He told his subscribers it was "criminal articulation" to try to accuse him of "something terrible, which I have never committed or would commit."
Siqueira is alleged to have shared photos of a six-year-old child on June 10, 2020.
An anonymous X account posted phone screen recordings where Siqueira was reportedly seen talking to another individual about what he had allegedly done.
He then provided a statement to police and deactivated his YouTube account.
In 2021, the Superintendence of the Technical-Scientific Police of the Public Security Secretariat of Sao Paulo is reported to have stated it had found no evidence to incriminate him for sharing an image of a minor, The Sun reports.
In March this year, Siqueira is said to have been saved from a separate suicide attempt.
In a statement shared the following day, he said: "Dear friends and enemies: yesterday I had a manic episode that got out of control, I exposed myself and my partner wrongly, and was followed by a new suicide attempt.
"I was rescued by the fire department and I am truly grateful for the special kindness of the sergeant who accompanied me. I'm fine and safe. Maria [Watanabe, his then girlfriend] is also safe and well."
An X account posted a message exchange involving Siqueira on June 10, 2022.
In the messages, it is reported he said he had received an image of a naked child but he denied the claim on social media.
Siqueira wrote: "I was taken by surprise when I saw my name being used by a criminal organization, which tried to accuse me of something terrible, which I never committed or would commit."
Some days before he died he told his subscribers he was spending the festive season by himself as he did not have a lot of friends.
Captioning the 30-second video, he wrote: "Merry Christmas to you who don’t have a family, don’t have many friends or don’t have money to party. You are not alone!"
Brazil’s Public Security Secretariat previously said: "The case continues to be investigated by the 4th Pedophilia Repression Police Station of the Department of Homicide and Personal Protection (DHPP).
"Details about the progress of the investigation will be preserved, due to the secrecy decreed by the Court."
Aside from his work on YouTube, the 37-year-old content creator was known for his presenting work, and comic book coloring and his appearances on TV shows on MTV Brasil, PlayTV, and TBS Brasil.
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