A witness who presented the defense of those accused of sexual abuse of children between 3 and 5 years of age from a garden in the Buenos Aires town of San Pedro to testify in their favor, surprised to recognize the link of one of the accused with the attacks, in his testimony in the trial that follows them in the courts of San Nicoláswhere the allegations are scheduled this afternoon, informed Télam judicial sources.
The statement that broke the defense strategy took place on Thursday afternoon, which led to the withdrawal of a large part of the list of expected witnesses, and speed up process times.
The accused are the priest Tulio Matiussi (49); the exporter Anselmo Ojeda (61) -the only one who continues to be detained under house arrest- and the tutor María Luján Rubíes (54), who come to trial accused of “simple sexual abuse aggravated by the quality of its perpetrators”, for having their I charge the custody of the affected minors and, in the first case, for being a minister of worship.
Was the father of a girl who attended kindergarten de infantes who assured in his statement that the priest was in the place when the abuses were committed, which contradicted statements by other witnesses who indicated that he was not there, the sources told Télam.
From there, the defense decided to withdraw a long list of witnesses that it had prepared to testify this Fridayreducing the number of speakers to seven, so the reading of the arguments that was scheduled for Monday will take place this afternoon, and it is expected that the verdict will be read within ten days.
The main line of investigation of the Justice indicates that the staff was in charge of taking the children to the bathroom or kitchen in the garden, where the priest was waiting for them to grope them.
For her part, the party psychologist specified that “there are no conclusive signs of abuse” to determine that there was carnal access against children, but practices in which minors were sexually assaulted.
Manifestation
While the hearing was taking place inside the court, relatives and close friends of the victims demonstrated at the door of the building accompanied by social organizations to demand justice.
During the demonstration, they placed posters and stuffed animals in repudiation of the abuses suffered by children between three and five years of age.
In addition, they set up an open radio in which the microphone was released to the public, made up of residents of San Nicolás and San Pedro, who went this morning to the courts of the neighboring town.
Among the posters, it was possible to observe legends that mostly revolved around the slogan “I do not lie”, which pointed to the importance of listening to children, and believing them when they show signs of abuse.
One of the banners indicated “there are monsters that only children can see”which was referred to by Victoria Piba, referent of the Group Against Sexual Abuse (Acase), who referred to the importance of the application of Comprehensive Sexual Education (ESI).
“There are families who are afraid of ESI and for us parents it is a fundamental tool to reach children in places where we are not (through social networks),” said Piba.
The activist pointed out that “The ESI comes to raise what is going and what is wrong, not only has to do with sexual issues, it has to do with the boys learning to respect their body, their physical and mental integrity”.
TOC No. 2, chaired by Judge María Elena Baquedano and made up of Judges Alejandro López and María Belén Ocariz, began the oral and public debate last Monday.
In his opening statement, the prosecutor of the UFIJ 8 of Baradero, Hernán Granda, stated that he seeks to demonstrate that “during the 2017 school year” the defendants subjected the children to “touching” their genital areas during class hours, a crime that they committed both “collectively” and “individually”, with or without the presence of other children as witnesses.
Granda pointed out that the events occurred “in the living room and in the bathroom area and in the common areas such as the kitchen, patio and SUM, and in the San Roque church adjoining the garden, where Mr. Mattiussi officiated as a priest.”
“As a result of these practices by the accused, signs of child sexual abuse were verified in all minors”said the prosecutor.
