Details of the case of Professor Mauricio Zambrano, linked to the case of the Marymount school

Earlier this month, Mauricio Zambrano, a former physical education teacher at Marymount School in Bogotá, was captured for alleged sexual abuse against a girl under 14, said the attorney general of the nation, Francisco Barbosa.

From the investigations, it was possible to determine that the events, not only those of the student about whom the scandal was uncovered, but those of many others, were committed on the premises of the school. In addition, other teachers confess that these cases were not new; even the directives had knowledge of these acts and nobody did anything. The only thing that was achieved is that after the remarks, Maria Angela Torres left the rectory of Marymount.

Laura Giraldo, a former student, speaking with Blu Radio said,

Semana published that the prosecutor in the case pointed to December 2021, as the moment when Zambrano engaged in dialogues with the student and they met at least 3 times. The Prosecutor's Office points out that after classes, he invited the girl to the “ballroom”, which was a place not very busy and that it was his “domain”. There he pressured the minor to touch her over her clothes.

After the holiday period, Mauricio Zambrano tells the minor that in order not to arouse suspicion they must be in another place. The prosecutor said at the hearing that the teacher asked the student if she wanted her to do something else to her. Faced with the refusal, he decides to take her to a winery, inside the Marymount School, where the physical abuse was committed on February 11. The minor decides to call a trusted relative after what happened. Zambrano tried to manipulate the victim into not telling anyone and “remembering him fondly and not with hatred”.

According to the media, the testimony of the Prosecutor's Office shows that the young woman was surprised by her relative because she also studied at the Marymount and assured her that this was a repeated behavior of Mauricio Zambrano, which was not the first time that it happened, besides, she had already done it to other girls.

This prompted the mother to immediately pick up the child; he took her to Legal Medicine where they provided her with accompaniment and interviews; this allowed the validity of the testimony to be generated.

The prosecutor reportedly revealed that Angela Torres, former rector, was contacted while the minor was being analyzed; her response to the mother was that they handle “this between the two”; but that, despite the complaint, she kept Zambrano in office and did not pay attention to the situation. “There are several statements, one of them being made by Rector María Ángela Torres, which indicates that there are several complaints against the teacher, that one of them was received in 2013, with respect to a former student of the school.”

There are currently more than 20 complaints from students and former students who say they are victims of abuse by Zambrano, but, the day after his capture, he was released after Judge 28 of Guarantee Control said that interviews, forensic reports, video security cameras and other material were not enough evidence that he received in his office, to order an assurance measure.

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