Uruguay: arrested a couple who sexually exploited their children aged 13 and 15

Police in Uruguay arrested in the department of Rivera, in the eastern part of the country and bordering Brazil, a 61-year-old man who was accused of an alleged crime of sexual exploitation of his own children. The mother of the minors, a 48-year-old woman, was also arrested.

According to Rivera Police Headquarters, the victims are a 13-year-old male and a 15-year-old girl, who were removed from their parents on Monday. The prosecutor in the case, Alejandra Domínguez, explained that the young man went to the house of an acquaintance that same Monday and asked her to stay there because she did not want to return to hers, the newspaper El País reported.

The son said that he had been suffering for years from the abuse of men that his parents, and especially his mother, brought. She, above all, was the one who was in contact with the abusers. The police were notified by the teenager's acquaintance and proceeded to raid his home and arrest his parents.

In the late hours of Wednesday, the couple were brought to justice, where they were ordered to be formalized as “alleged perpetrators of repeated crimes of contribution of sexual exploitation of minors or incapable persons, a continuing crime of domestic violence and a crime of omission to the duties inherent in parental authority or custody, in regime of real reiteration”. In total, three crimes.

Pretrial detention for 120 days was imposed on them as a precautionary measure, a period which will be delayed by the Justice to make the sentence known.

On the other hand, the Rivera Police Headquarters reported on Thursday that investigations have allowed several raids to be carried out during the last few hours and three men aged 72, 65 and 53 years old, and two others aged 64 were arrested.

They were also brought to justice and were formalized for the crimes of “retribution or promise of retribution to persons who are minors or unable to perform sexual or erotic acts of any kind as perpetrators”, as detailed in the police report.

The five men were given a precautionary measure of house imprisonment, less than the parents' term, and were prohibited from approaching or contacting either of the two victims within that period.

In the meantime, the parents had their parental authority suspended and the minors were temporarily left in charge of the woman who made the complaint, pending the court hearing that will define their fate.

Sexual exploitation of minors in Uruguay

According to official figures, sexual exploitation of minors exists throughout the country. The departments with the most cases of this crime are Artigas (in the north of the country and bordering Brazil), Maldonado (to the east and the most popular department for tourists), Colonia (to the west and another major tourist port in the country) and in Montevideo (the capital).

According to figures presented last year by the Uruguayan Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU), sexual exploitation of children and adolescents has been a growing phenomenon since 2010. With 494 cases, it reached its highest expression in 2021.

The president of INAU, Pablo Abdala, said at the time that “the data presented today confirm a worrying trend. This is a problem that all Uruguayans and Uruguayans have to face.”

“This issue is directly related to the promotion and protection of the rights of children and adolescents. At INAU we are working to improve the response and early detection through mobile equipment. We are looking for a greater presence in the territory, so that teams are based in all departments of the country and work more coordinated,” he added.

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