The ruling confirmed the sentence of eight years in prison for repeated crimes against two minors. He had been charged in February 2021.
An Appeals Court ratified the sentence of the priest from Minas, who was sentenced on February 8, 2022 to eight years in prison for “repeated crimes of violent indecent assault, repeated crimes of sexual abuse and a crime of especially aggravated sexual abuse.” —all in real reiteration— against two minors, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The man was charged in February 2021 at the request of the 1st shift Lavalleja Departmental Prosecutor’s Office for sexually abusing two girls. After the judge of 1st instance of Lavalleja, Natalia Alessandre, resolved his sentence in 2022, the priest’s defense appealed the sentence. The man remained in house arrest pending the second instance ruling.
The Court of Appeals confirmed the sentence except insofar as “it did not reveal the extenuating circumstance of the previous good conduct that included absolute primacy nor the aggravating circumstance of the breach of trust that are relieved in the degree.”
In addition, the ministers emphasize that the first instance ruling “provided for the loss and disqualification of the rights provided for in Article 79 and 83 of Law 19,580 —Law on Violence against Women based on Gender— for the duration of the sentence”, therefore, they revoke that measure, “providing in its place the loss of the same for a period of ten years.”
In turn, it is indicated that the original sentence “did not specify that the patrimonial reparation in application of article 80 of Law 19,580 is without prejudice to promoting the integral reparation of the damage by the corresponding means.”
This article establishes that, in sentences, in addition to the sentence, “patrimonial reparation will be provided for the victim in an amount equivalent to twelve monthly earnings of the convicted person, or failing that, twelve minimum wages, without prejudice to their right to follow the corresponding procedural path to obtain full compensation for the damage.”
The case
In September 2019, the victims recounted the abuse they had suffered for several years. By virtue of what was reported, the older brother of the victims filed the complaint. Among the stories is that the priest entered the room of one of the victims and sexually abused her, so she ran out of her room terrified of her and managed to lock herself in the bathroom.
The man began to visit the house of the mother of the minors in 2014, as a religious reference for the woman.
“The defendant, through intimidation and abuse of power that he held by virtue of officiating as a religious reference for the family, repeatedly touched the victims of a sexual nature. Likewise, among the stories it is collected that the accused entered the room of one of the victims and sexually abused her, for which the victim ran out of her room terrified and managed to lock herself in the bathroom, ”the opinion indicated at the time. of the Prosecutor’s Office, according to The country.
In March 2021, a ruling by the Court of Appeals indicated that the victims “do not have the protection of their mother, who appears markedly focused on favoring the interests of the accused”, while the prosecutor’s opinion indicated that she resorted to the man “by economic aid on several occasions”, so he brought food and drinks to the house.
In 2020, the priest had been suspended from his ministerial functions in accordance with “the protocol for cases of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clerics and consecrated persons” of the Catholic Church, according to the Diocese of Minas at the time. , in the text shared on his Twitter account by Bishop Milton Tróccoli.
In addition, they reiterate their “firm disposition and commitment so that acts such as those denounced do not take place within the Church.” They also commit to “continue adopting the most severe measures against those who commit these serious offenses” and “to continue working hard on prevention.”
After being sentenced, the diocese of Maldonado, Punta del Este, Minas y Rocha published another statement in which it expressed “pain and empathy for what the victims and their families experienced,” and in which they reiterated their “commitment to reparation.” to the victims and to continue collaborating with the Justice”. Montevideo Portal
