Father Ricardo Oscar Quiroga, from the Diocese of Jujuy (Argentina), received a 15-year prison sentence after being found guilty of the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl, which occurred in October 2020.
The trial was in charge of Criminal Court No. 3 of Jujuy, which tried the priest and two other people for the crimes of sexual abuse and corruption of minors. In addition, the aggravating circumstance of having been committed by two people, and the fact that it was a representative of a religious cult, was considered.
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Within the framework of the case, a 10-year prison sentence was imposed on María Cielo Regazzoni, the woman who would have handed over the minor and facilitated the abuse.
A third person involved in the case was acquitted due to lack of conclusive evidence. However, the victim’s relatives anticipated that they will appeal the sentence, according to the portal Infobae.
The victim’s lawyer, Jorge Taconas, stated that they will seek to increase the sentence to 20 years, a request that prosecutors had presented. “We are dissatisfied with the sentence and outraged by how the Court has ruled, but we will see the reasons and after that we will file an appeal,” he expressed in dialogue with Jujuy at the moment.
Lorena Martínez, mother of the minor, assured that she will seek to ensure that the accused who was acquitted also receives a sentence. “I’m going to go where I have to go, but this is not going to stay like this,” she said.
The woman also made reference to threats received on WhatsApp, pressuring her to stop demonstrating and demanding justice.
On October 24, 2020, a woman allegedly took the minor from her home with the excuse of going for a walk, moving her to a house in the center of town, where the priest and another man committed the abuse.
Although the woman in question later tried to hide the evidence by bathing the girl and burning her underwear, the victim immediately revealed what happened to her mother.
On October 27, 2020, the Bishopric of Jujuy determined to “suspend the priest from exercising his priestly ministry” as a precautionary measure. Likewise, he expressed “entire disposition” to Justice.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.