They confirmed the prosecution of an evangelical pastor who exploited young people with addiction problems

There Federal Court of Appeal of Mar del Plata confirmed the processing of a evangelical pastor 60-year-old accused of recruiting vulnerable people and retaining them for labor exploitation in various commercial enterprises he owns in the spa town. It is Robert Taglabuean evangelical minister in charge of the church”El Shaddaibelonging to the Congregation of Union of Assemblies of Godwho was in charge -among other things- of the “Christian Addiction Rehabilitation Programwhose colloquial name was “El Hogar”, a space dedicated to Help for people with drug and alcohol problemswhom he forced to work for his benefit as part of a “recovery program”.

The pastor had been prosecuted and arrested on August 3 last year by order of the federal judge Santiago Inchausti after a series of raids that confirmed the line of investigation of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office No. 1 of Mar del Plata, headed by the tax Laura Mazzaferri. In this sense, and according to a press release from the General Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), it was confirmed that “the defendant recruited and sheltered victims of trafficking at least since 2001” through the “Hogar” and the Evangelical Church that he managed himself.

The case began on August 31 of the previous year following a complaint by the Anti-Trafficking Executive Committeewhose letter stated that “some of the companies linked to the El Shaddai Church -in charge of the accused- were a forager, a greengrocer and a market where unpaid young people work for the work they have done,” said the Fiscales.gov.ar website.

It was there that the investigation began which would lead to the raids carried out by the airport security police in the “House” -in Calle Génova 8149- and in the Church -Brumana 2261- located in the “Pueyrredón” district, 7 kilometers from the center of the city of Mar del Plata. During these measurements, moreover, it was possible to verify that “the defendant kept captive animals, in particular endangered birds and reptiles, which he illegally traded”.

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In this context, the Judge Inchausti ordered the treatment of Pastor Taglabue “to consider him as the author criminally responsible for the crime of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labor exploitation aggravated in nine cases, unlawful deprivation of liberty committed by threats in one case and for religious purposes in seven cases, illegal practice of medicine, commercialization of wildlife in respect of 97 animals and ill-treatment of of 154 animals”.

“Victims of human trafficking – said the judge – were, in general, young people in vulnerable situations, with problematic drug or alcohol consumptionwho had to perform itinerant sales of bakery products, cleaning products and plants and the commercial attention of a fodder store, as part of rehabilitation treatment”.

And he added: “The defendant acted under the pretext of therapeutic treatment for people with problematic consumption of narcotics and/or alcohol, which was not the case in practice, imposing his rules and restrictions , And forcing them to work for personal gainto the detriment of the majority of car victims.

As the MPF reported in reference to the investigation, the rehabilitation treatment offered by the evangelical minister “included the confinement in the institution of young people without contact with the outside world” for 45 days, after which they were allowed to go out to “perform sales tasks for the various products marketed by the organization” in a process that lasted 9 months. In such circumstances, “the victims worked long hours in exchange for a tiny portion of the earnings, which mostly remained in the hands of the accused. In addition, they had to perform unpaid cleaning and maintenance tasks in the facilities where they lived”.

After his pursuit, which aggravated the crime of trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation “because the accused is a minister or a religious authorityfor mediation between deception and threats, for the number of victims, for the abuse of their situation of vulnerability, for the exploitation to have been consummated and for having been committed to the detriment of a minor and a disabled person”, the defense of the pastor filed an appeal complaint, which returns to the Federal Court of Appeal of Mar del Plata, composed of judges Alejandro Tazza and Eduardo Jiménez.

In the said proceedings, the Chamber confirmed that “the elements gathered during the investigation show that -the defendant- profited from his role as pastor of ‘El Shaddai’ church and self-proclaimed director of a drug rehabilitation ‘programme’ with the aim of attracting young people in vulnerable situations. After this recruitment, he received them in the ‘foyer’ located in front of his house and exploited them at work by carrying out various activities without any salary”.

In turn, he indicated that said activities consisted of the “maintenance and cleaning of the church and the ‘house’watch out for the ‘Lo de Sandra’ store (…), watch out for the fodder store on the ground floor of Génova 8149 -where the rehabilitation ‘house’ operated on the ground floor-, itinerant sale of products – some of which were donations for a dining room that was also under its orbit, masonry and/or maintenance work for neighborhood residents, cleaning and cooking at ‘Hogar El Farolito’, d ‘administration of pensions or social programs that can be paid’.

In this sense, the chamber judges subscribed to the opinion expressed by the General Tax Daniel Adlerand they concluded that in the case there was a “a common denominator between the people recruited and/or accommodated by the defendant: the situation of social, economic and health vulnerability in which they found themselves due to the problematic consumption of substances drugs and/or alcohol, lack of employment and housing opportunities, age and lack of strong family ties”.

Following the confirmation of his procedural situation, the pastor will continue to be held in prison, a fact which has already led last year to the organization of virtual prayer chains and marches of support promoted by evangelical congregations. of Mar del Plata such as the Association of Evangelical Churches of Mar del Plata.

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