Gang rape in Palermo: they refused the release of one of the six detainees

Thomas Fabian Dominguez, one of six arrested for gang rape in Palermo, will remain under arrest. The National Chamber of Criminal and Correctional Appeals rejected the release that the accused had requested, considering, as the judge in the case had already done, that there are dangers of flight and hindering the investigation in his case.

Judges Mariano Scotto and Rodolfo Pociello Argerich, members of Chamber VII of that high court, explained their decision by mentioning in the first instance that the maximum penalty provided for the offences attributed to Domínguez - sexual abuse with carnal access aggravated by the involvement of more than two persons in real competition with minor injuries - “well exceeds eight years 'imprisonment, while the minimum precludes the possibility of a possible sanction being put on hold”.

In addition, they pointed out that “the risk of avoidance that can be inferred from the method of execution of the sentence in expectation is reinforced by assessing the very burdensome characteristics of the facts attributed to Domínguez”.

In the ruling granted by the Telam agency, the camaristas also recalled that the detainee is credited with having participated together with the other five accused of sexual abuse with a “prior agreement of wills and division of roles” and of having assaulted a neighbor. And they pointed out that Domínguez, like the other defendants, have another open case for threatening the baker who ratted them out by calling the police and who, according to that complaint, they told: “We already know where they work and we are going to return bastards. We're going to kill them all.”

“Such extremes reasonably lead to inferring (...) the danger of hindrance if the accused is released, so that any harassing behavior towards the victim — of whom he knows the identity and residence — and witnesses must be neutralized,” Scotto and Pociello Argerich agreed.

Domínguez is from San Miguel, in the West of Buenos Aires, and in the neighborhood he is known as “Robacha”. The day he was arrested, he was wearing sneakers, black Kappa shorts and a light blue t-shirt with a legend that read “Thrasher”, linked to skate culture. One of the keys to distinguishing it from the rest is its dreadlocks. Unlike those of Lautaro Ciongo Pasotti (24), theirs are slightly shorter.

According to his family's account, the only one that Thomas Domínguez frequented was Steven Alexis Cuzzoni (19). According to his mother, the last communication she had with him was on Sunday, February 27. He told him he was in an after and then he was going to Plaza Serrano. What happened next, the woman found out on social media.

Domínguez was the first of the defendants to dispense with an official defender. Through his lawyers, Jorge Alfonso and Silvina Fernández Rosarno, he had requested his release, which was rejected on March 7 in the first instance by the Criminal and Correctional Judge 21, Marcos Fernández, in charge of the file.

This week, the magistrate tried both Domínguez and the rest of the accused in custody: Ignacio Retondo, Franco Jesus Lykan, Angel Pascual Ramos and the aforementioned Ciongo Pasotti and Cuzzoni. All are charged with the crime of sexual abuse aggravated by the number of participants, which carries a foreseen sentence of between 8 and 20 years of imprisonment. In addition, Domínguez and Retondo are accused of minor injuries caused to a witness.

While the investigation continues, the defense of Retondo and Lykan - they share counsel - filed an appeal to the indictment in recent hours and Chamber VII of the House itself must confirm or revoke that decision of the investigating judge.

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