Sexual crimes that harm boys, girls and adolescents is a priority for the Attorney General’s Office

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, announced the strengthening of the special team to deal with sexual crimes in public and private schools in which specialized members of the national working group on gender based-violence  (Grupo de Trabajo Nacional de Violencia de Género in Spanish) are in charge of investigating and prosecuting those people responsible for these crimes.

The announcement was made by the Attorney General Barbosa Delgado within the framework of a meeting with the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, in which issues such as the measures taken by the Prosecutor’s Office in cases of sexual crimes committed within educational establishments against minors were addressed.

“Within the framework of the clarification and investigation of all these crimes, the Office of the Attorney General has decided to join forces in Bogotá within the framework of the clarification route and with the working groups that we already have (…) which are not new, we are going to have six additional prosecutors in each of the Casas de Justicia and professionals who are going to be working together with the Mayor’s Office to detect cases and advance in the clarification of 154 cases that the Mayor has presented us. 154 cases that will be clarified by Prosecutor’s Office in the next 30 days” said the Attorney General Barbosa.

Figures

Between 2020 and 2022, the Attorney General’s Office has clarified 11,604 cases of sexual crimes throughout the country. The clarification of these criminal acts in which the victims are boys, girls and adolescents, are a priority for the institution.

To this end, the Attorney General assigned 100 prosecutors specialized in this matter, who have the skills and technical experience to carry out investigations in a prompt and effective way.

In the case of Bogotá, there are 23 prosecutors and 48 judicial police officers in the places where the largest number of complaints about cases of sexual violence have been detected.

As part of the strategy for prioritizing sexual crimes in Bogotá, a case monitoring committee has been established, a control panel to review the progress of clarification of cases.

In Bogotá, between January 1 and March 10, 2022, 121 accusations for sexual crimes have been conducted. In addition, 76 arrest warrants have been issued, 59 of them have already been carried out. Likewise,  the Prosecutor’s Office, so far this year, has requested 386 hearings to bring charges.

Moreover, 45 cases related to sexual crimes have been reported and 31 of them have occurred in district schools.

The most affected areas are Suba (16), Engativá (4), Tunjuelito (3), Bosa (3), Fontibón (3), Los Mártires (3), Teusaquillo (2), Santa Fe (2), Kennedy (2 ), Usaquén, Barrios Unidos, Antonio Nariño, Candelaria Rafael Uribe Uribe, San Cristóbal and Puente Aranda (1).

In total, 42 minor victims have been identified, 2 women and 1 man with a disability.

Strategy

The Office of the Attorney General through the national working group on gender- based violence, with its program for crime prevention Futuro Colombia, has carried out different strategies to mitigate the phenomena of sexual and domestic violence that occur in educational settings in the main city and in the rest of the country.

It is expected that campaigns for the educational community such as students, teachers and parents contribute to the strengthening the clarification of the facts and prosecution of those people who commit crimes in which minors are victims.

The campaign ‘Mi voz y mis derechos cuentan’, allows children to identify their rights and how they can avoid being victims of sexual crimes.

‘Redes sin enredos’, prevents sexual violence through digital platforms and social networks.

In addition, the strategy ‘Formador de formadores’ seeks to sensitize teachers and parents so that way they can identify when children are victims of sexual crimes and know the route they should follow to report these events.

This group, made up of teachers, psychologists, anthropologists and prosecutors, has identified the most vulnerable areas to prioritize those sectors in which minors can be harmed. In such a way,  they travel to those places to carry out the prevention strategy.

The Prosecutor’s Office also participates in the committees of the Sistema de Responsabilidad Penal para Adolescentes and in those of the Secretary of Education to identify situations of sexual abuse that can occur in school and family environments.

The Prosecutor’s Office has scheduled La Ruta del Niño, for the month of April to clarify cases of sexual crimes that have occurred in school settings and where the victims are minors. The activity will be carried out in the 35 sectional offices of the country and will have 7 regional forums that will be attended by judges, directors of educational establishments, prosecutors and investigators.

The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out the criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.