The Justice of Paysandú sentenced twelve people in the framework of the so-called “Operation Arctic”, linked to a case of sexual exploitation of minors, informed the director of Communication of the Prosecutor’s Office, Javier Benech. In total there are six minors affected, one of them was under the tutelage of INAU.
Of the twelve people, nine were sentenced through an abbreviated process for the crime of retribution or promise of retribution to minors for performing sexual or erotic acts of any kind, one for the crime of contacting a minor through of technological means and for storing child pornography, and another only for maintaining contact through technological means, and it is the only one with probation, Benech detailed.
They are joined by a woman, who was convicted of drug sales, when it was found that she tried to sell drugs to one of the minors.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Director of Communication, the penalties are “very varied” because there are some people in the group who are repeat offenders and others who are not. Prosecutor Martínez communicated at a press conference that the evidence was “convincing”, and she does not believe that there was a “network” work, since those involved did not know each other.
Martínez highlighted the “meticulous” work of the police to achieve the conviction of those involved, who were arrested on March 8. The investigation began in February 2021, after a complaint from the INAU about the minor who was under her guardianship, of whom they suspected that she was being contacted to have sexual relations for adults.
The prosecutor explained that the ages of those involved range “from 20-odd to over 50”, and most had no criminal record. One of those involved is a repeat offender of the crime of remuneration.
All the defendants have a sentence of more than two years, Martínez indicated, for which they are entitled to a prison sentence.
The Victims Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office will work with the victims, added Benech.
