In the last speech of his second government, the former President Sebastian Pinera He indicated that in his administration they put children “first in line.” However, workers dependent on the Better Childhood Service (successor to Sename) have expressed harsh criticism against the Family Residences, which emerged after the closure of the Direct Administration Specialized Repair Centers (Cread).
A particular case is that of the Puma Family Residence, located in Recoleta. Campus officials issued a letter – dated February 22, 2022 – to the metropolitan director of the Better Childhood Service, Barbara Sotoin which they denounced shortcomings in shelter, protection and security, both for the young people who live in Puma and for the teams that work there.
Among the shortcomings in protection, it is pointed out that the minors in said center face two situations that appear to be particularly serious: commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, and drug trafficking.
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Investigation for child sexual exploitation
A few days ago, a harsh report from the Investigative Commission of the Chamber of Deputies highlighted that situations of sexual abuse and exploitation against children and adolescents (NNA) under State protection have been “repeated and long-standing in the system”. Likewise, they point out that this institutional weakness has been identified by networks of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents (ESCNNA).
“They see in the protection centers an easy target for their action, which transforms protection residences into spaces at risk of more serious violations, and not safe spaces of protection as it should be,” the document details.
Regarding the networks of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, the aforementioned commission of the Chamber of Deputies found that this is not resolved with the closure of the Cread. And he pointed out that “the complaint of the capture of a family residence” was what triggered the formation of the commission.
The situation of the Puma center in Recoleta is a clear example of daily hell.
The venue began operating from mid-September 2021, after the closure of Cread Pudahuel. At least 10 children and adolescents live in the property.
For some months, an official of this facility has been investigated for commercial sexual exploitation of children, that is, he would have sexually abused adolescents in exchange for compensation for the victims.
The official was removed from his duties by the Better Childhood Service, and the My Lawyer program, of the Judicial Assistance Corporation (CAJ), filed a complaint against him.
The case of that worker triggered, among other reasons, the departure of the director of the facility, due to notable abandonment of duties, for which he currently exercises a substitute director.
But there is not just one case, since new records confirmed by the Ombudsman for Children, Patricia Muñoz, show that there is another more involved official and a person outside the property, on whom the initial complaint was extended, for actions constituting sexual assault. .
Despite the fact that the vulnerability of the exposure of minors to these networks requires a sense of urgency, the Prosecutor’s Office maintains the investigation with a deformalized nature, a situation that is criticized by the Ombudsman for Children.
“It seems very serious to us that the Prosecutor’s Office to date has not formalized any charges against these people, particularly knowing the versions of those who have been victims of these events,” said Patricia Muñoz.
Complaint of Daniel Jadue
Faced with the situation of the Puma residence, the mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jaduefiled a complaint a couple of weeks ago with the Third Guarantee Court of Santiago.
“The complaint that we presented in court is for the alleged commission of the crimes of production of pornographic material using minors under 18 years of age; of an alleged illicit association and of any other crime that will be determined during the course of the investigation”, said the communal chief.
“We received the complaint from the personnel who work there. Then, we sent municipal officials to find out the facts and they confirmed to us, based on said testimonies, the seriousness of the facts that we later denounced to the courts”, added the mayor of Recoleta.
high public interest
This medium tried to contact the metropolitan director of Better Childhood, Bárbara Soto, but she declined to respond, alluding to judicial reasons and the reservation of the case of the Puma residence.
Indeed, at the request of the Mi Abogado program, the Pudahuel Family Court prevented –in a resolution dated March 11, 2022– “all circulation of information about minors subject to protection, residents of the Puma family space” and ordered the elimination of all published information linked to the venue in the media.
Said resolution was based on what was resolved by the judge of the Center for Precautionary Measures Lorraine Brunaon February 9, 2022, when it ruled for a period of 90 days – from the date mentioned – “the prohibition of publications and dissemination of the image of the adolescent of cars and as well as any audiovisual content or personal data of identification, in which the adolescent and/or any other boy, girl and adolescent is exposed”.
The ruling also considers “any other information regarding this case, in the mass media and social networks.”
The Better Childhood Service issued a statement last week, regarding the complaint filed by Jadue, in which they claimed to have been aware of the alleged case of CSEC in January “and as soon as we were aware we took all actions to protect adolescents from said home”.
From Recoleta, they detailed that the alleged perpetrators were immediately suspended “from their positions, we made the complaints in the Public Ministry and in the Family Courts, we initiated the corresponding summaries, and most importantly, we installed a robust accompaniment plan and permanent supervision to ensure the non-revictimization and protection of adolescents”.
In addition, they pointed out that the residence was inaugurated under Sename, and not by Better Childhood, so they had no responsibility for the location in a place that has become an epicenter of drug trafficking.
“(The campus) was selected by Sename, not by those who are today in the administration of the Better Childhood (Service), but in the case of the life of the adolescents residing there, it does not matter, it cannot be that the State begins to try to demarcate their responsibility from Best Childhood to Sename, and from Sename to Best Childhood”, underlined Patricia Muñoz.
“The point is that the State of Chile, through its institutions, is responsible for the fact that if it is going to transfer the children from the Cread (…) to family residences, which, according to what was predicted and announced by the Executive, they did correspond to a different intervention model, satisfy precisely those demands, and in this case in the Puma residence this was not done”, added the Ombudsman for Children.
Drug traffic
What was expressed by Muñoz is fully consistent with a letter from officials – to which he had access The counter– in which they pointed out that the sector where the residence is located has “heavy drug trafficking” and expressed doubts as to whether “previous studies were carried out to locate RF Puma in its current location.”
“Since the first week that the residence was opened, it has been observed how some neighbors openly offer drugs to young people, even from the front door of the house,” the workers stated.
“Although dialogue strategies are adopted with neighbors and places where alcohol is sold, the sector allows easy access to drugs, failing to interrupt their consumption with such efforts,” they added.
“In addition, there are two nearby ‘squatter houses’, where several young people go, which represents an important focus of consumption and presumably drug trafficking,” the officials continued in the text.
Another aspect linked to drug use highlighted by the issuers of the letter, “is that young people have begun to interact with adults at risk, receiving threats and even showing up at the Residence with firearms in search of a young person.”
In turn, they pointed to deficiencies in the infrastructure of the residence. In this sense, they commented that the perimeter closure of the property “lacks any element of security and protection”, which allows the entry of third parties.
They also mentioned problems with the sewage chamber, which usually overflows and from which “a strong rotten smell” emanates. They also denounced that the electrical installation is not certified: “A large part of the plugs is in poor condition or they do not work at all.”
The Defender of Children, Patricia Munoztold this medium that a team from the institution visited the Puma residence and verified the conditions that the officials reported in the document.
Muñoz described as “serious” that, “in the case of a new residence, situations are faced in which the necessary actions were not effectively carried out so that the place and the property to which the adolescents were transferred from the Cread Pudahuel, had those conditions required for to be able to make habitability in that place without being exposed to risk situations”.
Lack of staff and aggression
However, the workers not only accused an environment with a focus on drug trafficking and deficiencies in the infrastructure. They also affirmed that there is a lack of personnel in the Puma residence.
The team – they explained – is organized in three shifts, in which there should be at least five monitors or tutors, in addition to a higher level nursing technician (TENS). However, in practice there are only two officers per shift, and no TENS.
“Due to the critical situations that this team has experienced, in at least three months, as a result of medical licenses, we have had to take turns, with two officials, not having logistical and human support to be able to carry out a function in accordance with what is required by the service,” they noted.
Given the lack of personnel, deficiencies in infrastructure and the environment in which Puma is located –and its consequent impact on residents, such as problematic drug use–, officials have been exposed to physical and verbal attacks by the youth, including hitting, shoving, and being hit by thrown objects.
An official from the Better Childhood Service, external to Puma and who requested confidentiality of her identity, told The counter that the lack of personnel is transversal in the facilities dependent on Better Childhood, but that the situations of aggression are exclusive to this residence.
