When on the morning of this Thursday, June 27, 2024, and from the voice of the president of the Court Leandro Lazzarini, the sentences of the sexual abusers Walter Sales Rubio, Sheila Arteriza, Solange Arteriza and Alicia Reina were heard, confused screams were heard in Plaza 25 de Mayo in Santa Fe.
It cannot be said that there was joy. No one in this ruthless sequence of sexual abuses against minors, which took place in the quiet San José del Rincón for more than 15 years and within the framework of trust and admiration implied by the relationships between a coach, his assistants and his students, can say that this ending is happy or anything like it.
Justice, the Court, the courage of the victims, the adequate pressure of the relatives who stood in the Plaza, and the unconditional follow-up of the press, formed a solid scenario where there was no room for the slightest impunity.
50 years for Sales Rubio, a coach who knew how to enjoy media fame in the region; 32 for his partner and accomplice, Sheila Arteriza; 16 for her sister Solange Arteriza for promoting the corruption of minors and 14 for their mother, Alicia Reina, for the same facts: SEXUAL ABUSE WITH CARNAL ACCESS, AGGRAVATED BY BEING IN CHARGE OF THE EDUCATION OF AT LEAST 15 MINORS, AMONG 2004 AND 2021.
The sentence is the most burdensome that the Santa Fe criminal courts remember in history, regarding sexual abuse.
The message is what is always expected from a just criminal sentence: A line that forever draws human horror in the face of one of the most serious crimes known.
It is a landmark that pushes judges and prosecutors who are in charge of similar cases to punish with the utmost harshness those who forever harm the integrity of childhood and break, in the worst way, the essential trust between those who educate and those who learn.
It is a message that encourages victims to report, that restores confidence in society in the functioning of justice and that helps to rebuild the dilapidated social fabric.
Sexual abusers, to whatever degree, must be isolated from society. Whoever they are, as long as there is enough evidence to convict them. There is no need to have mercy on them at the time of sentencing, because those who intend to do so must know that there will be punishment for them.
At this time, in the same Palace, the story of a restaurant entrepreneur accused of abusing his own son is being aired. The “connections” of the businessman, who was prosecuted and arrested, are causing tension in the corridors of the Courts. The murmur is heard clearly: “They say that he is threatening to expose the private affairs of his “clients” if he is not granted conditional freedom.”
This ruling helps clear the smoke of alleged threats. She is a hinge, it seems, as was that trial of Edgardo Storni in the abuse of minors in the Santa Fe churches. It is not that they have disappeared, but it was clear to the curia: if the Bishop fell, the parish priest will fall. And that’s the sign
How many stories, over the years, tell of the freedom and impunity of important businessmen, of social reputation, of high-ranking political, judicial and business positions, in matters of gender violence, of sexual abuse of adults and minors?
Many. Society is breaking down walls of impunity, with a lot of effort. Women have been pushing hard with the “Ni una menos” (Not One Less) movement in the last decade. The Alperovichs are there, starting to feel some foundations creaking.
There, those who believe that money, power or their influences can cover up their worst sides begin to feel fear.
There was no joy today, but there was relief and reparation.
When there is justice, there is sowing for the future. And this is a society that desperately needs lights to be turned on that will point them out.
