The ombudsman of Ecuador, in preventive detention for an investigation of sexual abuse

The head of the Ombudsman's Office, Freddy Carrión, in 2019 DEFENSORIA ECUADOR

The Ecuadorian Ombudsman, Freddy Carrión, is facing an investigation and is in preventive prison for sexual abuse of a woman after starring in a violent incident with the former Minister of Health, Mauro Falconí. A video from a security camera, viralized on Sunday, showed the two men locked in a fight moments after the Ombudsman forced a woman out of an elevator in a building in Quito, grabbing her by the waist and then cornering her against a wall. It was the final scene of a night of partying at the home of the former Minister of Health in full curfew, during which any type of social gathering is prohibited, as a measure against the rebound in COVID-19 cases in recent months in the country .

At the home of the former minister - who was in charge of managing the pandemic in March for just over a month - was his partner, the ombudsman and two agents in charge of the latter's security.

The Prosecutor's Office began an investigation for sexual abuse, sanctioned in Ecuador with a prison term of three to five years, and a judge of the National Court ordered preventive detention for Carrión while the investigation of the case lasts.

In addition, police protection was assigned to the victim who reported a sexual assault.

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According to the police report, the building guard called Emergencies after midnight to report that there was a "fight" in the department where the meeting was held since five in the afternoon. When the agents arrived, they noticed that those involved had alcohol breath and that they had bruises on their faces.

The former Minister of Health was treated at a health center and later appeared in a leaked photograph with a black eye. The Ombudsman remained in a clinic on Sunday until his admission to prison 4 in Quito was ordered on Monday. The Minister of Government, Gabriel Martínez, confirmed the same Sunday that Carrión was in police custody while undergoing toxicological tests. However, the Ombudsman published a statement in the middle of the afternoon in which he said he had suffered a "poor health" and clarified that on Saturday night he was not at a "clandestine party" but at a meeting at the home of the former Minister of Health with whom he has "a friendship of several years."

Carrión requested a license to be absent from his position as ombudsman temporarily, while the investigation against him lasts, and offered his "total predisposition" to clarify "the truth of the facts."

The Minister of Health was released early Monday after the court hearing, which was held behind closed doors as it was an alleged sexual crime to preserve the identity of the victim.

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