Travel influencer, 40, found dead after being arrested as part of child porn probe in Argentina
A POPULAR Argentinian YouTube and Instagram star has been found dead hours after being accused of possessing child pornography.
Leonel Esteban Borroni’s body was found by a relative at his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires after he failed to respond to calls.
Police sources say they suspect Borroni, 40, took his own life but are awaiting autopsy results.
The travel influencer was better known by his social media username “Un Leon Viajero” which means “A Lion Traveller” in English.
Borroni is understood to have sent goodbye messages to his loved ones after his home was raided on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation.
Paedophile material was allegedly discovered on his electronic devices.
Borroni was found dead on Friday.
Another five men and a woman aged between 20 and 50 were also implicated in the criminal probe.
One has been described locally as a PE teacher and another a tech firm employee.
Borroni was found dead hours after appearing before a judge and being told he was under investigation as part of an ongoing human trafficking and sex abuse probe. He was then bailed.
The influencer is believed to have refused to answer questions about the child porn allegedly found.
Authorities in Argentina received a tip-off from a US-based agency specialising in combating child exploitation which honed in on suspects allegedly producing home-made child pornography.
Several search warrants were then approved and executed near Buenos Aires.
Borroni was not facing accusations he was behind the production of the sickening images, said to include victims under 13 being sexually abused by older men and women.
But he is thought to have been under investigation on suspicion of possession and illegal distribution of child pornography.
He had not been formally indicted over any crimes before he was found dead.
Borroni had 164,000 followers on Instagram where he posted photos of motorbike trips to places like Ecuador, Venezuela and French Guiana.
He had more than 140,000 subscribers across his two YouTube channels and another 137,000 TikTok followers.
In a recent video, he was left confused after entering South America’s smallest country Suriname and realised they drove on the left.
He admitted: “It’s very difficult co-coordinating this” before adding: “I like what I’ve seen of Suriname so far, much more than what I saw in French Guiana. There’s more life to it.”
One follower wrote on his YouTube page, without waiting to find out the outcome of the investigation Borroni had been implicated in, said: “The madman appeared dead. It looks like he committed suicide.
You never know what people are hiding.
“God bless those who fight against the world’s paedos and the child victims of these people.”