A 70-year-old man, leader of the Pueblo de Dios Christian Congregation, began to be tried this Monday in the city of Santa Fe accused of the sexual abuse of seven minors and the Prosecutor’s Office announced that he will ask for 40 years in prison, judicial spokesmen reported. .
The subject, identified by the initials AA, has been detained since October 27, 2019, when he was preparing to vote in the national elections in the missionary town of Puerto Iguazú, where he had his residence.
The crimes imputed to him were committed in a car and in the House of Prayer that this congregation owns. in Gorriti to 4,600 of Santa Fe, between 2015 and 2017, to the detriment of seven girls and adolescents who were minors at the time of being attacked.
The case began to be investigated in April 2018 by the prosecutor Alejandra del Río Ayala, from the Special Prosecution Unit for Gender, Family and Sexual Violence (GEFAS) of the Public Prosecution Ministry (MPA) based on the father’s complaint. of two of the victims.
The prosecution stated that “The abuses were committed repeatedly between 2015 and 2017 to the detriment of seven girls and adolescents,” that “they were attacked when they stayed to sleep at the headquarters of the religious congregation” and also “at the time of being transferred by the accused in a private vehicle.”
“In some cases (the accused) used violence to neutralize the girls; in others he did so by abusing his religious authority; and, in others, he threatened to suspend them from religious practice if they did not accept being abused”added the Prosecutor’s Office.
At the time of the first complaint, the defendant had left the city of Santa Fe and was arrested after the MPA issued an arrest warrant that was finalized when AA went to vote in Puerto Iguazú on October 27, 2019.
In the oral trial that began this Monday, He is charged with the crimes of sexual abuse with carnal access, seriously outrageous sexual abuse and repeated simple sexual abuse, in the three cases aggravated by being a minister of worship.
In addition, for the acts committed to the detriment of four of the six victims, he will be tried as the author of aggravated corruption of minors, in two cases for threats, in another for abuse of authority and in the third for violence.
The Pueblo de Dios Christian Congregation is recognized by the National Registry of Cults and in Santa Fe.
In addition to the headquarters where the abuses occurred, it owns a property in the Santa Fe town of Ángel Gallardo, where more than 200 adherents reside.
