Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent San Martín, Mendoza, Argentina · 2025

Argentina: evangelical pastor convicted of statutory rape aggravated by his position as minister of a congregation, against a 15-year-old member

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

pastor, Centro de Vida church, San Martín, Mendoza

Organization

Centro de Vida, San Martín, Mendoza

Spiritual nexus

A congregation's own pastor used his position within the church, including church-organized activities, to repeatedly abuse a minor member; the aggravating factor charged and admitted was specifically his status as a minister of religion.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2025-07-08 · conviction (abbreviated trial / juicio abreviado)

    San Martín, Mendoza, Argentina. Fernando Nehemías Coronel Fanin, 28, a pastor at the Centro de Vida evangelical church, was convicted under an abbreviated-trial agreement of statutory rape aggravated by being a minister of religion, in concurrence with a second aggravated count, after admitting to repeatedly abusing a 15-year-old member of the congregation between 2022 and 2023 at the church and during a church camping trip. He received a three-year suspended sentence.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral authority over a minor congregant
  • access during church activities and a church camping trip

Primary record

Sources

local newspaper court reporting sentencing report 'Condenaron a un pastor acusado de abuso sexual de una adolescente de 15 años en San Martín', Mendoza Today, 8 jul. 2025.

Local court report on the conviction, admission, and sentence.

national newspaper court reporting sentencing report 'Mendoza: un pastor evangelista admitió que abusó de una menor pero no irá preso', Infobae, 10 jul. 2025.

National corroboration naming the aggravating 'minister of religion' charge and the suspended sentence.

Related record

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