Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Jehovah's Witnesses San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras · 2019

Honduras: congregation elder convicted on 13 counts of rape of a 12-year-old

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

congregational elder (anciano)

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The defendant held the formal office of congregational elder, a recognised position of spiritual authority within his denomination, and that standing is what afforded him access to and influence over the child.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2019-09-06 · unanimous conviction and sentence

Tribunal de Sentencia, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Roger Abraham Flores Díaz, an elder (anciano) of a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in San Pedro Sula, was unanimously convicted on 13 counts of violación especial against a 12-year-old girl, committed between July and December 2016, and was sentenced to 221 years. He was expelled by the congregation after the facts emerged.

Documented coercion mechanisms

formal office of religious authority within the congregation

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict report 'Exlíder religioso es declarado culpable por abusar de niña de 12 años', La Prensa (Honduras), 6 Sept. 2019.: Honduran paper of record reporting the unanimous verdict on 13 counts and the defendant's role as a congregational elder.

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