He Deputy Commissioner Gabriel Martín Pino was sentenced to three years in suspended prison for the crime of simple sexual abuse, aggravated by having been committed by personnel belonging to the Río Negro Police. They also permanently disqualified him from holding positions within the force.
The statement of responsibility of judges Guillermo Baquero Lazcano, María Florencia Caruso Martín and Marcelo Gómez was announced last month and then the caesura trial was carried out where the magistrates decided to establish the sentence of conditional execution and the measure that prevents the deputy commissioner from returning to serve.
The facts, As explained by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, they occurred in the city of Cipolletti on June 15, 2021 between 8:30 and 10 in the morning. when a police employee was fulfilling the duties of chief of guard in the Detachment of the Road Safety Corps that is located on National Route 22, on the bridge that connects the cities of Cipolletti and Neuquén.
The woman He entered Pino’s office to inform him of the news, placed the daily report on a desk and there “taking advantage of his hierarchical superiority.” He took her hand and pushed her towards him to give her a kiss on the mouth without the victim consenting to that act.
She tried to continue with her task but the deputy commissioner took her by the hand and led her behind the door and, again,began to kiss her on the mouth while the victim tried to get him off of her at least twice.
The qualification that he gave to the prosecution was that of «simple sexual abuse, aggravated by being committed by personnel belonging to the police forces on the occasion of their duties, in accordance with arts. 45 and 119 1st and 4th paragraph, inc. e) same article 119 of the Penal Codein the context of gender violence.
In his closing statement, Defense lawyer Federico Dalsasso stated that the Prosecutor’s Office could not prove at trial the facts that Pino is accused of. In addition to the witnesses, during the hearings the accused also gave a statement and denied the accusation. He assured that in his 20 years of service he never had a complaint of this nature and that his office was precisely set up so that there were always people watching inside.
Pine, which He only answered questions from his defender, he said that when he took charge of the unit he noticed irregularities, that cell phones were used for particular issues. and that he was very strict with this so he gave directives regarding the subject. That is why he prohibited vehicles from leaving the jurisdiction and in this way tried to sow suspicion that this complaint had to do with his actions.
“In a state of vulnerability”
For Judge Baquero Lezcano, Pino’s action was proven because that morning when the first action occurred, the two were standing face to face. and another police officer entered through the guard who testified during the trial and who observed the situation and found it “strange.” This was followed the second action of the deputy commissioner which generated the blocking of the victim and his subsequent departure from the office.
«I highlight that the victim was paralyzed, frightened, not knowing what to do about what had happened to her. She was then a young woman, 20 years old, she had returned to her duties a few months ago after becoming a mother for the first time. “He was in a special situation of vulnerability due to the above, plus the separation from his partner on the same day his daughter was born, the health problems of his baby, to which was added the fact that he suffered and motivated this trial,” he said in the ruling. .
