Teacher convicted of sexually abusing one of his six-year-old students

This April 18, the conviction of an elementary school teacher twelve years and seven months in prison for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old student, at the rural area of ​​the municipality of Cunday, Tolima. Authorities said the attacks began in October 2018.

The 49-year-old allegedly took advantage of his teaching job to sexually abuse the minor when she was left alone with him in the class, while his other classmates were on break.

It was learned that the man was also transporting the girl on his motorbike, at one point he used to take her to remote places and mistreat her there.

According to El Tiempo, the complaint was lodged by the minor’s grandmother who, after learning what was happening, turned to the authorities of the department of Tolima.

The man was captured in January 2019 by members of the policea, and is deprived of his liberty in Melgar Prison, where he will continue to pay the sentence handed down by a criminal court.

According to El Espectador, the prosecutor’s office declined to say the name of the person involved, as it is the only educational center in the area, so the abused girl could be easily identified.

The Colombian Institute for the Protection of the Family, ICBF, announced on January 12 that in Colombia in 2020 more than 24,000 administrative processes aimed at restoring the rights of girls, boys and adolescents have been presented, including 12,724 for sexual violence.

For the director general of the institution, Lina Arbeláez, “situations like these which are shaking the country, not only do they violate the individualities of childhood and adolescence, but they also shatter their dreams and life plans with which an entire society is damaged. Child protection is a guarantee for the development of our country ”.

For this reason, he recalled that they are currently working on the development of a prevention strategy against this type of events, with which they seek to deliver to Colombian families positive and loving parenting tools through play and the creation of protective and healthy environments for minors.

Although she did not go into details, the official recalled that the plan was part of a joint effort with the First Lady of the Nation, María Juliana Ruiz, and the Presidential Advisor for Children and Adolescents, Carolina. Salgado, with whom we are actively working to impact the 32 departments of the country.

Similarly, the director of the ICBF recalled that just as there are prevention plans, there are alsolegal tools and laws such as life imprisonment for child rapists and murderers, and the imprescriptibility of the sentence for anyone who dares to put a single finger to outrage the physical and sexual dignity of Colombian children ”.

It should be remembered that, according to forensic data of 2019, only in this year 8,336 examinations were carried out on minors aged 6 to 11 for alleged sexual violence. Of these, 6,840 were performed on girls and 1,496 on boys; 1,184 were performed on children from rural areas and 7,121 from urban contexts; 68 were minors with some type of disability and 298 were from Afro-Colombian communities.

These figures are worrying when you take into account that, according to Arbeláez, almost all of the cases recorded by the ICBF remain unresolved. In fact, a study by the Attorney General’s office published by Semana Magazine, specifies that between January 2017 and August 2018, it was found that 90% (65,430) of sex crimes were in the investigation phase; only 1.2% in the execution of sentences; 5.7% on trial and 2.5% under investigation. In other words, 98.2% of them went unpunished.

So, the director also added that in the first 12 days of 2021 there were already five minors killed in acts of violence, including Maira Alejandra Orobio Solis, a minor under 11, found dead in Guapi, Cauca, with obvious signs of sexual abuse and torture. “A fact that should generate the rejection and indignation of all Colombians and the actions of the competent authorities to find those responsible and be brought to justice,” condemned the ICBF via Twitter.

In this regard, Arbeláez appointed a team of professionals to provide psychosocial support to the girl’s relatives, including her brothers and parents. “Again, I’m calling the company so that we all understand that we cannot continue to repeat cycles of violence and generate a violation of physical, psychological, emotional and sexual integrity children and adolescents in our country, ”he said.

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