The History teacher of the Military Lyceum, Sebastián Mauvezín, testified this Thursday before the Office of the Prosecutor for Sexual Offenses in the framework of the investigation into the case of the eight young people who accuse Gustavo Penadés of having sexually abused them while they were minors.
Gustavo Penadés was the first to arrive at the courthouse without giving a single statement to the press upon entering. After a cold and emphatic “good afternoon”, he entered without looking up. Minutes later, Mauvezín arrived, who is pointed out by several victims as the supposed coordinator between Penadés and the minors who claim to have been his victims.
Like Penadés, Mauvezín testified for about an hour and a half and then refused to make any statements to the media that were present waiting for his words. “I cannot comment because we did not have full access to the folder. They are friends”, affirmed the professor’s lawyer, Juan Carlos Fernández.
According to media such as Montevideo Portal either Telemundosources close to the case revealed that the Prosecutor’s Office would have access to several chats between Mauvezín and younger boys where they would have coordinated days and times to meet with Penadés, in order to have undue meetings. In addition, Mauzevín indicated to the minors how much money he was willing to pay thenador, as well as the site for the fact.
The 6th Turn Sexual Crimes Prosecutor, Alicia Ghione, presented chats with the names crossed out to the professor’s defense, due to a privacy issue or because she understands that their identities are not relevant to the case. The first portal said that its source indicated that the conversations that the Public Ministry has are not only those that transcended on social networks and that LARED21 reported at the time.
Juan Carlos Fernández assured that the chats that became public knowledge thanks to the press have “indications of falsehood.” But one of the sources rather affirms that it is “perfectly verifiable” if they have been adulterated or not.
How an expert opinion is done to check if a social media chat really existed
The process of carrying out an expert opinion to extract a chat from Facebook or Instagram with the purpose of using it as reliable evidence in a criminal case involves a series of technical and legal steps.
First of all, the intervention of a properly trained and recognized computer forensic expert is required. This computer forensics expert must have the necessary knowledge to carry out the extraction accurately and reliably.
The expert begins his work by making a forensic copy of the electronic device that contains the chat information. This copy is made using specialized tools that guarantee the integrity of the data, avoiding any subsequent manipulation or alteration.
Once the forensic copy is obtained, the expert proceeds to thoroughly analyze the data, identifying and extracting the specific chat required for the criminal case. During this process, messages are verified for authenticity and relevant metadata such as dates, times, and participants are collected.
The expert must respect the established protocols and comply with the legal requirements to ensure the validity and admissibility of the chat as evidence in criminal proceedings. This implies adequately documenting each step of the expertise, guaranteeing the chain of custody of the evidence and preparing detailed technical reports that support the authenticity and veracity of the extraction.
In many cases, from the Judiciary of the country where the criminal or civil process is being carried out, issues a court order for the social network to reveal the content of a specific segment of the chats, because many times they can be deleted by the accused or suspected party.
