Argentina: priest convicted of sexually abusing a boy over a decade earlier, sentenced after a trial delayed ten years

Proceedings

1. Date in cited record · conviction

   Cámara en lo Criminal N°2 de Catamarca (Criminal Chamber No. 2 of Catamarca), Argentina. Judges Miguel Ángel Lozano Gilyam, Silvio Martoccia and Mauricio Navarro Foressi unanimously convicted José Renato Rasgido of two counts of aggravated simple sexual abuse and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse with carnal access (violación), the aggravation in each count being his status as a minister of a legally recognized cult, and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment. The victim, abused at age 12, said publicly after the verdict that he hoped it would bring relief to other survivors of Rasgido's abuse who had not come forward. The verdict followed a trial that itself took ten years to reach court from the original complaint. Rasgido began serving the sentence but was later granted an exceptional precautionary measure of provisional home detention, conditioned on discharge from a sanatorium where he was hospitalized; press reporting noted he was to serve home detention at a church-affiliated residence, drawing public criticism.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• his standing as an ordained minister of a legally recognized religion, an aggravating factor the court applied to each count
• access to the victim, who was 12 years old at the time of the abuse, through his clerical role in the community