Spanish Justice investigates complaints thirty abuses in religious schools – Terra Peru

The Spanish justice investigates thirty complaints of alleged sexual abuse by a dozen teachers and monitor various religious schools, run by the religious congregation of the Marist in the region of Catalonia (northeast).

A court today upheld the decision of another judge to release on charges one of the teachers involved, Joaquim Benitez, who confessed responsibility for the abuses and was the first to be denounced.

The confessed pederast is prohibited from leaving Spain, approaching minors, communicate or coming within 300 meters from victims who have denounced and must periodically in person in court.

The number of claimants has been growing since February when the father of a student denounce this former professor at a center in Barcelona, ​​who taught gymnastics for 27 years, for alleged sexual abuse of her son, now of legal age.

The fact that this teacher was denounced by another family was in 2011, but the case was closed because the victim refused to testify.

The father suspected then that there were more victims and hung posters around the school, with an email address, to gather new evidence.

So far, more than fifty former students who claim to be victims of sexual abuse in different centers of the Marist have contacted the father, who is centralizing reception complaints.

More than half of these cases have not yet been formally denounced to justice, according to investigative sources.

At the moment, in the courts of Catalonia three distinct for abuses in schools of the Marist causes are open, but most are concentrated in the school located in a popular district of the city of Barcelona and professor Joaquim against Benitez confessed pederast.

The various Marist schools in the region of Catalonia have condemned and rejected accusations of concealment and tolerance of child abuse and reiterated his “unconditional” support to victims.

The father who uncovered the case and denounced the “opacity” and “reserves” that the congregation has addressed this issue, last week sent a letter to Pope Francisco the week to create a commission of inquiry, boost public condemnation and apologize religious order.