SANTIAGO.- The Santiago Prosecutor’s Office reiterated this Tuesday that it made available to the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services numerous evidence that compromises the criminal responsibility of the director of a rehabilitation center intervened by the Public Ministry and who could face charges for acts of torture , mistreatment, as well as sexual and psychological abuse to the detriment of minors.
Judge Wendy Tavárez postponed until next Monday, January 2, the hearing where she will consider the relevance of the request of the Santiago Prosecutor’s Office, that preventive detention be imposed, as a measure of coercion, against Lorenzo Silverio Almonte or Julián Almonte ( The Shepherd).
Tavárez was arrested in the middle of one of the investigative procedures that the prosecution body coordinated, through the Comprehensive Care Unit for Victims of Gender-Based Violence, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Offenses, and in which other State agencies also participated.
Within the framework of these tasks, the Public Ministry raided the rehabilitation center, directed by the accused, where at least five adolescents suffered numerous physical and psychological abuse while they were interned.
The aforementioned institution would be focused on treating adolescents with alcoholism and behavior problems.
However, during the operation, the authorities rescued five adolescents from the place who were “overcrowded and in deplorable and inhumane conditions” and placed them under the protection of the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani).
The physical and psychological evaluations carried out on those affected, aged between 13 and 17, revealed that they were sexually raped by adults responsible for their care, forced to ingest psychotic substances and drugs without a prescription, in addition to receiving punishments such as sleeping in the ground, chained and wet.
The Office of the Prosecutor for Children and Adolescents of Santiago, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Health Service and the National Police participate in coordination in investigative actions and assistance to victims.
