A religious from a Catholic school in Uruguay was charged with cyberbullying of minors

A religious man from the Hermanos de la Sagrada Familia community in Uruguay was sent to prison on remand for ninety days after evidence of cyberbullying was presented against two teenagers. In the congregation there were indications that the man carried out this type of activity, but he lived in the institution for more than forty years without being investigated.

“From the conversations surveyed, it is clear that the accused was in contact with minors through social networks Facebook and WhatsApp with the purpose of committing acts with sexual connotation and obtaining pornographic material,” said the Prosecutor's Office on March 17, when criminal judge Fernando Islas ordered preventive detention , reported La Diaria.

The adolescents involved are 16 and 17 years old. The second one also has an intellectual disability. The religious is also investigated for the virtual conversations he had with another adult with whom he agreed to share child pornography content.

The accused is 71 years old and has a long career as a religious in the congregation of the Brothers of the Holy Family, specifically in the centers of Montevideo and San José, a city in the south of the country.

Since 2018, he has lived in the Sagrada Familia primary and secondary school facilities in the Aguada neighborhood, north of Montevideo. However, he resides in the nursing section and has no link to educational activities, but there he was also director of the student residential.

During his career at the institution he was transferred several times. People close to the congregation declared to the media that the man was suspected of having these behaviors with adolescents, but this circulated for years.

The Prosecutor's investigation began in December 2021 due to the complaint filed by a lawyer representing the Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay (INAU). A call came to the Blue Line telephone (the mechanism by which an irregularity affecting and/or violating the rights of children and adolescents is communicated to INAU), where a person anonymously reported contact between the 16-year-old teenager and the religious. He provided screenshots of messages that worked as evidence to begin the complaint.

According to the court file, the religious communicated with the teenager through Facebook. In the first instance, he wished him luck with his exams and handed him his personal phone in case he needed it. After that, conversations with sexual overtones appeared: the man asked the teenager if he deleted the chats and confessed that he did.

When the 16-year-old replied that he did, the man wrote “thank you for your trust” and ended the conversation.

When two cell phones were seized in the name of the adult, evidence was found of contact with a 17-year-old teenager with intellectual disabilities. He also had conversations with him on sexual issues, where he invited him to visit him and asked him to take and send him photos of him.

In addition to these evidences, there was a dialogue with another adult with whom he agreed to share child pornography. The second man wrote that he intended to abuse his godson or nephews to pass photos to him. This case continues to be investigated.

The prosecutor requested that the religious be suspended from the exercise of functions in the educational, health and any other area that involves direct contact with children, adolescents, people with disabilities and the elderly for ten years.

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