The justice system of Rio Gallegos, in Santa Cruz, once again convicted former Kirchner councilman Emilio Maldonado, who was already serving a 16-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of minors, now adding a new sentence of 11 yearsof effective service.
The case had already generated shock in Santa Cruz during the 2020 pandemic, and now it has returned to the center of the judicial scene.
The ruling was handed down by the local oral court in the framework of a second trial, in which he was found criminally responsible for new acts of sexual abuse against minors between 4 and 9 years old, which occurred between 2016 and 2020.
According to the court ruling, Maldonado was convicted of “seriously outrageous sexual abuse, three victims and simple sexual abuse aggravated by custody.”
Emilio Maldonado.
The sentence was unanimously signed by judges María Alejandra Vila, Jorge Yance and Carlos Arenillas, who also rejected the request for house arrest submitted by the defense of the
former Kirchner official.
Consequently, the convicted person will continue to be detained in the local prison unit, where he was already serving his previous sentence.
The court also ordered that the new conviction be incorporated into the Register of Crimes Against Sexual Integrity of the Provincial Judicial Police, reinforcing the cumulative nature of the sentences against him.
The case
As exposed during both judicial proceedings, Maldonado accessed the victims after establishing close ties with their families. Several of these ties had been generated in the area of shared political militancy in a basic Peronist unit of
the city. Emilio Maldonado.
In this context, one of the mothers stated that the former councilman had reached such a level of trust that he was even present during the delivery of one of
his daughters.
After the verdict was read, the convict was quickly removed from the judicial building by members of the Santa Cruz Police, who transported him in an official vehicle back to the prison. The operation included custody that prevented any contact between Maldonado and the families of the victims present at the scene
.
Outside the judicial headquarters, a group of women expressed their dissatisfaction with the sentence imposed. “In this trial there were four victims and they give him 11 years: It's a mockery,” said one of the mothers, who also highlighted the difference with the previous conviction: “for two victims they gave him 16 years, now there are more cases and they give him less
.”
Another mother said: “there are six victims, it's a mockery” and reported that "girls have no restraint”. Criticism was also directed at the defense's attempt to obtain the benefit of house arrest for health reasons
.
“I think he's perfect, I don't know why he says he has terminal cancer,” said one of them, adding: “He wants to be quiet at home and knows how the other moms who couldn't even come today are.”
