The Bolivian Episcopal Conference reported that the priest Otto Strauss, 84, was acquitted after a two-year criminal trial, during which time he was investigated for the alleged crime of indecent abuse and regretted that “this event has prevented Fr. Strauss continue his work caring for the poorest during this time.”
The information was released this Monday, October 7 through a statement of the Commission for Prevention and Culture of Care of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, where it states that “the criminal process followed against the priest Fr. Otto Strauss for the alleged crime of indecent abuse concluded with a sentence that absolves him of guilt and punishment.” .
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The crimes of indecent abuse refer to “libidinous acts that do not constitute carnal access,” according to the Bolivian Penal Code.
In June 2023, the newspaper The reason stated that the complaint against the priest had been made by a man for alleged events that had occurred in 1988, when he was 15 years old and was preparing for his First Communion in the church of Camargo, Chuquisaca, in the southeastern region of the country, bordering Paraguay. The accusation of “dishonest abuse” merited the formal accusation of the priest, but without preventive detention.
The 84-year-old priest went through a criminal process of almost two years, in which he had to be transferred from Camargo to Tarija to exercise his defense. In this regard, the Commission valued his “willingness to undergo the process despite his delicate state of health and reach the sentencing, which has allowed him to establish his innocence.”
The Episcopate highlighted the importance of every act of violence being investigated with respect for due process and fundamental rights, while regretting that “this event has prevented Fr. Otto Strauss from continuing his work of caring for the poorest during this time.” time”.
Likewise, the Bolivian bishops considered that “a topic as delicate and difficult as sexual abuse must be treated with all seriousness, appropriateness, transparency and impartiality, in an effort to end all forms of impunity and build a culture of care, with healthy and safe environments, which commit us all to the eradication of violence.”
The communication of this information, the Commission indicates, “is part of the commitment to access to information and transparency.”
As required Catholic TVmiddle of the Archdiocese of Sucre, Father Otto Straus was born in Germany on December 25, 1939, and after exercising the priestly ministry in his country for five years, he arrived in Bolivia in 1969.
In the Los Cintis region, he served as a parish priest in the municipalities of Las Carreras, Culpina and Camargo, but his social work extended to Incahuasi, Villa Abecia and San Lucas.
During his years in Bolivia, he contributed to the construction of roads and homes and the installation of drinking water services, in addition to other works that improved the quality of life of the people of Cinteños, he says.
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.