Original article: Cadena perpetua a padres y cuñado por violaciones reiteradas de niña de 12 años en Bulnes: Víctima murió tratando de escapar del hospital
The Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Ñuble secured three life imprisonment sentences for C.A.S.F, A.M.L.C, and F.J.M.S (the court prohibited disclosing their full names), with the first two being the parents of a 12-year-old girl and the last her brother-in-law, who faced trial for repeatedly raping the victim.
The Oral Criminal Court in Chillán also sentenced both parents to an additional 300 days in prison for lesser injury offenses against their daughter under circumstances of domestic violence. The father received an extra 800 days for contempt of court.
Ñuble’s Regional Prosecutor, Nayalet Mansilla Donoso, emphasized that «these are exemplary sentences and we are very satisfied with the outcome of this ruling. It has been a complex investigation, especially considering the tragic death of the girl, which also highlights the importance of using the video-recorded investigative interview that was considered by the court during the trial.»
It is important to note that the victim girl died on July 26, 2023, after falling from the fifth floor of the Regional Hospital of Chillán, to which she had been transferred as a protective measure by the Family Court of Bulnes.
The investigation led by the Chief Prosecutor of Bulnes, Álvaro Hermosilla Bustos, confirmed that «in the case of the father, he repeatedly raped his daughter, while the mother, having conspired with him, facilitated the occurrence of this crime and even manipulated the victim, denying the occurrence of the sexual assaults,» the prosecutor explained.
The brother-in-law took advantage of the girl’s situation while she was under his care, along with his partner and the victim’s sister, to carry out the rapes. These incidents took place at the family’s home in Bulnes and at the brother-in-law’s residence in the same municipality, between 2021 and 2023.
Prosecutor Hermosilla explained that «it was a complex trial due to how the evidence was presented.» He noted that «the victim had passed away, and there were no family members to present her history of neglect, so we had to bring social workers and psychologists to testify about how the victim perceived these ongoing assaults as normal.»
Additionally, the girl presented a six-week pregnancy, which was terminated under Law 21.030 in early March 2023, due to the circumstances of rape.
Finally, the head of the Sexual Crimes Investigative Brigade (Brisex) of the PDI, Subprefect Iván Velásquez Medina, underscored that «the investigation required multidisciplinary work, as there were forensic examinations by the Criminalistics Laboratory (Lacrim) that provided legal certainty, as well as significant contributions from the Institute of Criminology (Inscrim), which provided relevant information regarding the victim’s history.»
The Citizen