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This is a historic verdict in Argentina. Three people, including two priests, were sentenced to long prison terms for raping and sexually assaulting deaf children. The sexual violence occurred from 2005 to 2016 at the Provolo Catholic Institute in Mendoza, western Argentina.
With our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Aude Villiers-Moriamé
The verdict was eagerly awaited Monday in Mendoza. Priests Horacio Corbacho (59) and Nicola Corradi (83) were sentenced to 45 and 42 years in prison respectively for rape and corruption of minors, among others.
Armando Gomez, a former gardener at the Provolo Institute, will also have to serve 18 years in prison for rape. A mass servant, who admitted to sexually assaulting five Provolo Institute students, was sentenced last year to ten years in a previous trial.
→ See also: Argentina: trial of pedophile priests of an institute of the deaf-mutes
This case of pedophilia in the Church is one of the most serious in Argentina, the country of Pope Francis. For years, a dozen deaf children who studied at the Provolo Institute were sexually assaulted and raped by the leaders of this specialized Catholic institution. These young Argentinian, often of modest origin, spent the week in internship before returning home on weekends.
The Provolo affair broke out in 2016, following several chilling testimonials from students and alumni. The scandal had led to the closure of the institute.
The victims and their families denounce the fact that Nicola Corradi, one of the condemned priests, had already been suspected of pedophilia at the Provolo Institute in Verona, Italy, without being disturbed by justice or dismissed of his functions by the Vatican.
In Mendoza, the Provolo affair does not stop there: two new trials are to open shortly to try a dozen other people, including two nuns. One of them is accused of sexual assault.