Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Gualaca, Chiriquí, Panama · 2023

Panama: priest convicted of raping a five-year-old parish child, sentenced to 30 years

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

parish priest, Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles church, Gualaca district

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The victim was a child of the Gualaca parish the priest served; the diocese itself suspended him during the investigation, and the abuse took place through his position of unsupervised access to parish children.

Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2023-08-19 · conviction and sentence

Tribunal de Juicio de la provincia de Chiriquí, Panama. Ex-priest Arístides Rodríguez Otero, formerly of the Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles parish in the Gualaca district, was convicted of aggravated rape, indecent acts and obscene exhibition against a child then five years old, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He had been suspended from ministry by the Diocese of David during the investigation, which began in April 2021 and added further charges through late 2021 before trial.

Documented coercion mechanisms

parish-priest access to a very young child of the congregation
position within a rural parish community

Primary record

Sources

national press sentencing report La Prensa Panamá (2023) 'Condenan a 30 años de prisión a sacerdote por violación y actos libidinosos'.: Reports the Chiriquí trial court's conviction of ex-priest Arístides Rodríguez Otero and 30-year sentence for aggravated rape and indecent acts against a child of his Gualaca parish.
national press investigation report Día a Día (2021) 'Sacerdote separado enfrenta la justicia por presuntos delitos sexuales contra un niño en Gualaca'.: Confirms the priest's suspension from the Diocese of David and the Gualaca parish location during the initial investigation phase.

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