Nuns Acquitted of Raping Deaf Children in Case That Shocked Latin America

A court in Argentina acquitted two nuns and seven other female employees of a school for deaf children of rape and sexual abuse charges in a case that captured the attention of Catholics across Latin America since it emerged seven years ago.

Argentina's outpost of the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf has been in the middle of a major sexual abuse scandal since allegations of abuse surfaced at the institution.

The allegations first surfaced in 2016, though they date back to 2004. The institute in the city of Mendoza, which offered free education and boarding to children who had hearing and speech difficulties, was closed in 2016.

Japanese nun Kumiko Kosaka and Paraguayan nun Asuncion Martinez, as well as a former cook, a psychologist, a legal representative and school director, and three other employees, were acquitted by a panel of three judges on Wednesday.

Ariel Lizarraga, father of one of the accusers, told the AFP that the acquittal was "total injustice." Defense lawyers said they plan to appeal the ruling.

"There were already convictions," Lizarraga said. "The facts happened."

In 2019, former priests Horacio Corbacho and Nicola Corradi both received sentences of more than 40 years each for sexually abusing dozens of students at the school who were under their care.

The institution's gardener, Armando Gomez, was also sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexual abuse and a former altar boy pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of five children.