The San Francisco de Macorís Prosecutor’s Office requested the imposition of three months of preventive detention against the doctor Wilver Armando Polanco Sanz, accused of allegedly sexually raping a woman who came last Tuesday to undergo an pelvic sonography at your health centerlocated in the municipality of Las Guáranas.
According to the request for a measure of coercion, the events occurred on February 17, around 9:00 in the morning, after the victim – a Haitian citizen – was referred from a polyclinic in the Los Limones municipal district, in Pimentel, Duarte province, to undergo the diagnostic study at the accused’s center.
The file indicates that the procedure began normally; However, minutes later the doctor would have shown inappropriate behavior that culminated in the sexual assault.
After the immediate complaint filed by the victim with the National Police, the accused was arrested that same day, around 10:45 in the morning.
The Public Ministry reported that, during the investigative process, evidence has been collected to support the complaint. Likewise, he indicated that when purifying the accused’s background, alleged links to similar events were identified, which could show a pattern of conduct.
The prosecution maintains that in this case the crime of aggravated rapedue to the abuse of authority derived from the doctor-patient relationship, which implies a position of trust and power. Furthermore, the vulnerable condition of the victim is taken into account, as she is a foreigner with an irregular immigration status, which, according to the prosecuting body, increases the risk of exploitation and re-victimization.
The Public Ministry has granted the case the legal classification of sexual rape and violence against women, in alleged violation of articles 330, 331 and 309-1 of the Dominican Penal Code.
The Comprehensive Care Unit for Gender Violence, Domestic Violence and Sexual Crimes of Duarte, represented by prosecutor Sandra Sierra Difó, requested the imposition of preventive detention as a measure of coercion, in accordance with numeral 7 of article 226 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and that the accused comply with the measure in the fortress of Duarte province.
Judge Josefina Noemí Díaz, of the Judicial Office of Permanent Care Services of Duarte, postponed the hearing of the request until February 23, in order to conduct an interview with the victim through the Gesell Camera.
