Original article: ¿Solo ponía la firma, ministro Rabat? Revelan rebajas a agresores sexuales de menores pese a objeciones de sus propias seremis

Did Justice Minister Rabat Merely Sign? Revealed Discounts for Sex Offenders Against Minors Despite Warnings from His Own Secretaries

Justice Minister Fernando Rabat approved reductions of sentences for sex offenders against minors despite the fact that the regional Justice secretaries from Biobío and the Metropolitan Region had warned him that the applicants did not meet the required criteria.

During his appearance before Congress on October 28, the Secretary of State stated that the Justice Department merely formalizes decisions made by the Supreme Court and sentencing reduction commissions across all regions.

«It is the law; it is the Supreme Court that determines the analysis in the commission and weighs the evidence that allows us to qualify the behavior of a convicted individual as exemplary or not exemplary. To do otherwise, to demand that a state minister—like the one in Justice—evaluate and assess, would violate Articles 6 and 7 of the Political Constitution of the Republic, because it would require me to act outside the scope of my powers, to act beyond my competencies, which is unacceptable.»

At the same time, he indicated that the requests from the convicted individuals must be reviewed by the regional Justice Secretaries, who have the responsibility of analyzing whether the «objective requirements» established by law are met and if they are not within the excluded categories from the benefit.

According to the argument presented by the Secretary of State to the legislators, he «merely formalizes, by signing the respective decree, to give legal effect to the decision that had been adopted with a character of signature by the respective evaluation committee.»

Rabat Reduced Sentences for Sex Offenders Against Minors Despite Objections from Justice Secretaries

However, a set of decrees reviewed by Reportea contradict this defense by revealing that he not only signed but also approved benefits for those sentenced for sexual crimes against children on at least three occasions, with requests that had been objected to in writing by the Justice Secretaries themselves.

On June 24, the Justice Secretary of the Biobío Region warned through official communication 252 that Luis Caamaño Mora, aged 76, did not meet the legal requirements to receive a reduction in his sentence for sexual abuse against a minor. However, on July 8, the Justice Minister signed the decree authorizing a two-and-a-half-year reduction in his sentence.

In that document, the minister himself argued that he could not deny the benefit: «Despite the special gravity associated with offenses of this nature, this government department is legally barred from rejecting the benefit of sentence reduction based on the reason stipulated in clause e) of Article 17 of the aforementioned law, when the events occurred before February 9, 2022, in accordance with the repetitive resolutions of the Honorable Supreme Court.»

On August 13, the Ministry of Justice overlooked another warning by processing the sentence reduction for Sergio Becerra Astorga, a 42-year-old computer engineer who had been convicted of abusing a 14-year-old—despite receiving a letter just days earlier, specifically on August 4, from the Justice Secretary of the Metropolitan Region stating that Becerra was prohibited from accessing the benefit because he did not meet the legal requirements.

The decree that allowed a reduction of 11 months in his sentence was signed by Pablo Mira Hurtado, Undersecretary for Human Rights, who at that time served as acting minister.

According to what was published by Interferencia, Rabat signed a third decree approving the sentence reduction for a convener sentenced for sexual crimes against a minor, despite the fact that the Justice Secretary of Biobío had objected to granting the benefit.

Based on the investigation by Reportea, «on numerous other occasions, Rabat granted or denied benefits to prisoners convicted of crimes other than the abuse or rape of minors, in opposition to what the respective secretaries indicated.»

An example of this situation occurred on July 24 when he decided to reject the sentence reduction for a 26-year-old man who was imprisoned in the Alto Hospicio prison for robbery with aggravating circumstances and driving under the influence, despite the fact that the Secretary of Tarapacá indicated that «according to the minutes and the consolidated report of evidence, the applicant is not subject to any of the exclusion criteria.«

In the decree denying the benefit, the Justice Minister asserted that «upon reviewing the evidence», the convict did meet the exclusion criteria because he would have committed a crime while under a previous sentence for driving without a license.

Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Justice stated in writing to Reportea that «the sentencing reduction commissions are tasked with evaluating the behavior of individuals deprived of liberty and determining whether it merits being classified as exemplary. However, this evaluation does not eliminate the obligation to ensure that all legal requirements are met to access the benefit (…) the Ministry reviews the evidence for each request, including the convictions and any circumstances that, according to the law, may impede granting the reduction. If a legal cause for exclusion is verified, it should be denied, even if the commission has issued a favorable evaluation regarding the convict’s behavior.»

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