Trial of former Concordia police chief for child abuse begins

This Wednesday will open the trial of the former police chief of Concordia, Jose Enrique Querencio, who was reported for sexually abusing a minor. The case happened in 2019 and the sentence could reach 10 years in prison if it is confirmed that the crime took place within the headquarters of the security forces.

In 2019, the victim’s mother checked her daughter’s cellphone and discovered that the minor had been abused by Concordia’s former police chief. At that time, the woman reported the case and now the trial for “sexual abuse with carnal access and profit from immaturity” is going to take place.

Judicial sources have confirmed that the trial against Querencio will take place over three consecutive days and that the court will be composed of judges Ives Bastián, Eduardo Degano and Mariano Caprarulo. As for the defendant, it was reported that he would come to the debate in complete freedom and although the maximum sentence for the crime charged is six years, it could be increased.

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In this regard, it was clarified that he could incur 10 years in prison if it is confirmed that the abuses were committed within Headquarters. If so, the aggravation would be to have corrupted the code of ethics of the police and their duties as a public official.

So far, Querencio is free but with the prohibition to approach and any type of contact with the minor, her mother and the coordinator of the minor program Roberto Tribulatti, where the victim is.

Shortly after the start of the trial, Querencio’s lawyer, Rafael Briceño, remarked that his defendant “is innocent” and said that the minor was the one who “misled him and that this conduct does not is not because of him”.

One of the central axes of the investigation will be the results of the cell phone tests given that the mother of the victim not only found some conversations, but also found photos sent by her daughter to the commissioner. In addition, the social networks of the two were analyzed, since the initial link would have been via Facebook.

When filing a complaint, the victim’s mother said she discovered the facts after checking her daughter’s cell phone. From there, she discovered that the former police chief “was looking for her from the school and where she lived”, that is to say a provincial youth residence for minors.

The minor’s mother exposed the affair in 2019 and argued that at that time Querencio “had her (his daughter) in the police department and forced her to have sex and relationships oral sex,” Telam reported. According to what was reported, the man sent him “messages by ‘the face’ in which he said he wanted to meet me” and offered him “gold chains, dresses and other things “.

The minor maintained that she had been subjected to sexual relations for “at least a year”. During this period, the former police chief “threatened her that if she filed a complaint, he would find her, take her to a field and kill her”. In her complaint, the victim denounced that the defendant “ruined her life” and argued that other girls may also have suffered abuse at the hands of the defendant.

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