Bolivian Catholic Priest Arrested On Suspicion On Abusing Seminarian

The case came to light after news of a pedophilia scandal involving a Jesuit priest who died in the Andean country earlier this month.

Catholic Priest ( Photo: Yahoo News UK )

Pre-trial detention for three months was given to a Catholic parish priest during a hearing late Thursday

The Murillo case came to a head in part because of a scandal that erupted earlier this month involving Spanish Jesuit Alfonso Pedrajas. Pedrajas, who died of cancer in 2009, confessed to sexually abusing about 85 minors at a Catholic boarding school in Bolivia in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Regional prosecutor Sandra Gutiérrez Salazar said. “This is how we communicate that prosecutors are taking strict steps to ensure that these crimes are punished,” she told reporters on Friday. The Catholic Church and the Jesuits asked for forgiveness and promised to support any investigation into the Pedrajas case. 

New testimony from alleged victims led to his arrest

Prosecutors urged Pedraja and other clergy victims to testify as authorities also investigate whether there was a cover-up despite allegations of abuse against Murillo. Bolivia’s government announced this week that it would set up a truth commission to investigate allegations of child sexual abuse and said it would push for legislation to remove the statute of limitations for such crimes. A small group of people gathered outside the archbishop’s palace in downtown La Paz to demand justice for the allegations of sexual abuse by Church authorities.

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