Carlos Pereira Cruz (born 24 March 1942 in Torres Novas) is a Portuguese former radio and television journalist and talk-show host whose career ended after his involvement and criminal conviction in relation to the Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal.
Carlos Cruz
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Born | (1942-03-24) 24 March 1942 (age 82) |
Occupation | TV presenter |
Carlos Cruz was born in 1942 in Torres Novas. At the age of four he migrated to the Portuguese territory of Angola where, at 14, he started work as a sports reporter at the Emissora Católica de Angola and the Rádio Clube de Angola radio stations.[1] Back in Lisbon, he attended the Instituto Superior Técnico where he enrolled in the electrical engineering program, but dropped out and started a professional career in Portuguese television and radio.[2] Throughout his career in the Portuguese media he worked for the Emissora Nacional (now fully owned by RTP), RTP, Rádio Comercial and SIC.
Among his best-known television shows were Zip-Zip (RTP),[3] with Raul Solnado and Fialho Gouveia; 1-2-3 (RTP); O Preço Certo (RTP) and Noites Marcianas (SIC).[2] In 1990, he founded the television production company CCA (Carlos Cruz Audiovisuais), but the project went bankrupt.[2][4] Cruz was the spokesperson of a successful Portuguese bid submitted to host and organize the UEFA Euro 2004.[2] In 2002, the President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio awarded him the Order of Infante D. Henrique.[1] In 2004, The Guardian wrote that Cruz was "Portugal's most famous media personality",[5] and in 2010, The Daily Herald "once Portugal's most popular television presenters" [sic].[6]
In October 2011, in an interview with the magazine Público, he announced his imminent return to television on the real estate-focused cable channel House TV, but it never materialized.[7][8]
After a successful career, interrupted by a cancer operation,[2] he was arrested in 2003 and accused of paedophile offences in the Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal.[9] In 2004, as an arguido ("formal suspect") involved in the trial, Cruz published a book of personal reflections, Preso 374.[1][10] He was convicted on September 3, 2010, and sentenced to seven years in prison, but he was free pending appeals until 2013.[11][12]
Because of the sentence, Cruz lost his recognition as part of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.[13]
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