Chilean police raid more offices in church sex abuse investigation

SANTIAGO: Chilean prosecutors and police launched raids on the offices of four bishoprics as they continued an investigation into cases of sexual abuse of minors by members of the Roman Catholic Church, the lead prosecutor’s spokesman said.

Chilean prosecutor Emiliano Arias ordered the simultaneous raids in the coastal city of Valparaiso and the southern cities of Concepcion, Chillan and Osorno.

The raids were prompted by information law enforcement officials uncovered in previous searches, said Diego Alcaino, a spokesman for Arias, by text message.

He said the information relates to Oscar Munoz, a top aide to Santiago’s archbishop, who faces charges over accusations of sexual abuse of at least five minors.

Munoz and his defence team are due to appear in court yesterday where they are expected to ask for him to be released from protective custody, Alcaino added.

Munoz has confessed to sex crimes in documents that were seized previously by Arias.

Munoz’s lawyer has acknowledged that some of the accusations in the documents are true but has said he will challenge some others.

The archdiocese of Concepcion said in emailed comments that law enforcement officials took statements from several church office employees during the raid.

It said that copies of some of the documents the prosecutors sought in the raid had already been handed over, but prosecutors seized the original documents.

The archdiocese of Valparaiso said in an emailed statement it handed over the documents that prosecutors requested.

A representative for Chillan declined to comment.

A representative for Osorno did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The searches are the latest in a series of raids carried out by police in church offices in recent months, as prosecutors look for new cases of sexual abuse or evidence that church officials concealed abuse from authorities. — AFP