The Chilean justice sentenced this Saturday, August 6, 2022, Martín Prádenas for seven sexual crimes committed against six victims, one of them, the young Antonia Barra, who committed suicide in 2019 after being abused in a case that shook the country.
The Oral Criminal Court of Temuco (south) found Martín Prádenas Dürr guilty for the death of Antonia Barra, as well as for four other crimes of sexual abuse of persons over 14 years of age, one sexual abuse of a minor under 14 years of age and two for rape.
Prosecutor Miguel Rojas requested a total sentence of 41 years in prison and the sentence will be communicated by the same court on August 26.
The death of Antonia Barra, who took her own life at the end of 2019 due to psychological consequences caused by being raped, sparked numerous criticisms and protests from the Chilean feminist movement and served to make visible the consequences of sexual abuse.
Much of the country turned for months to defend Parra and even the feminist collective LasTesis, known worldwide for its song ‘A rapist in your path’, called to dedicate this well-known piece of music to Prádenas through their social networks.
The ruling finally determined that “the defense failed to establish reasonable doubts or counteract the force” of the evidence presented over 32 days of trial, which was carried out in a confidential manner and included the participation of 42 witnesses and 17 experts. .
“This ruling is important because it refocuses the guilt on the person who really commits the aggression, who is the aggressor and not the victim, due to different conditions.“, asserted the Minister of Women, Antonia Orellana.
In 2020, the magistrate even rejected the request of the Prosecutor’s Office to decree preventive detention for Prádenas, granting him total house arrest, national roots and a prohibition on approaching the victims.
In parallel, Antonia Barra’s family was ordered not to divulge information about the abuser and they were asked to eliminate all the publications on social networks where she was accused of being a rapist, facts that caused great controversy and unleashed new feminist demonstrations in various areas of the country. Days later, the justice modified the injunction and decreed preventive detention against him.
“This is a verdict that comes to break down the prejudices that are installed in society in relation to this type of crime and that make part of the responsibility for the crimes that have affected them fall on the offended parties,” added the regional prosecutor of La Araucania, Roberto Garrido.