In Argentina, two Catholic priests and the gardener of a school for the deaf have been sentenced to long prison terms for child molestation. The court found it proven in 20 cases that the three men sexually abused deaf students.
The 59-year-old Argentine Horacio Corbacho was sentenced to 45 years in Mendoza in the west of the country, while 83-year-old Italian Nicola Corradi was sentenced to 42 years. The gardener, Armando Gomez, got 18 years. The verdict was streamed in Argentina on the Internet, after the announcement cheered victims and relatives, as shown in pictures.
The Provolo Mendoza Institute, which specializes in caring for the disabled, was closed three years ago after the scandal was exposed. Former students had accused the men of abusing and raping them. The allegations date from the period between 2005 and 2016, only then were the men arrested.
Not the first charge against Corradi
Corradi is said to have been conspicuous even before his time in Mendoza. In a sister institute in Verona, Italy, similar allegations were made when a former student made cases of abuse public and also published names of suspected perpetrators. According to the British "Guardian", the Vatican was already aware of the events in Verona in 2009.
As the "Washington Post" reported in February 2019, high-ranking church officials of the Vatican and also Pope Francis have been warned of a group of alleged rapists. Corradi is said to have counted to this group.
