The Chiapas Attorney General’s Office reported on Monday the arrest of four men for the sexual abuse of an 8-year-old indigenous boy, which occurred this past weekend in the community of Los Naranjos, in the municipality of Sabanilla, in the northern part of the state. The events, which shocked and outraged the community, were captured on video by one of the now-detained men and subsequently shared on social media.
State Attorney General Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca stated that after a specialized team of agents arrived in the town, they located Aurelio “N”, the owner of the land where the abuse took place and who appears in the recording assaulting the child.
Also arrested was Octavio “N”, another of the alleged perpetrators of the sexual abuse who appears in the video assaulting the boy, as well as a third man identified as Gabino “N”, who recorded the entire incident and later shared it on social media.
The prosecutor also stated that a fourth suspect was arrested, accused of keeping watch for the arrival of authorities and alerting those involved so they could flee the community.
Llaven Abarca explained that the three individuals directly responsible for the sexual abuse could face up to 50 years in prison for the crime of child sexual abuse, while the accomplice will be tried according to the corresponding legal protocols.
Meanwhile, the child was rescued and taken to the State Prosecutor’s Office in the municipality of Yajalón, where he is receiving medical and psychological care with a serious diagnosis. “The minor is in the custody of the authorities. According to the psychological evaluations, he has suffered severe trauma, and that is why we are giving him all the necessary attention so that we can help him,” the state official stated.
The recording, which was first shared in WhatsApp groups, quickly went viral on other digital platforms such as Facebook, where social and political groups, as well as human rights defenders, demanded that those responsible for this atrocity be brought to justice.
The child was rescued and taken to the State Prosecutor’s Office in the municipality of Yajalón, where he is receiving medical and psychological care and has a poor prosecute. The abuse of this child is not an isolated incident. Chiapas has remained on the radar of child protection organizations due to the constant reports of child abuse in its various forms. Just days earlier, on July 18, an 11-year-old girl was found dead in a river in the municipality of Ocosingo, in the Selva region of Chiapas. Initial reports indicated that the victim showed signs of having been sexually abused and then abandoned on the border between the communities of Taniperlas and El Censo.
Human rights advocates pointed out that the traditional customs and practices in many rural areas of the state allow crimes such as child trafficking and pedophilia to become invisible scourges for the authorities, as they go unnoticed and unreported.
