EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Mexican authorities have arrested two Juarez men for allegedly sexually abusing a 5-year-old migrant girl from Guatemala.
The two men identified as Gilberto O.A. and Jorge Alberto L.J. were arrested after Chihuahua state police investigated reports of men holding a minor who was not their relative, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Further investigation led to charges of child abuse and sexual abuse of a child, the AG’s Office said in a statement. A spokesman for the Attorney General told Border Report the state has already notified the Guatemalan Embassy in Mexico City of the incident.
On Tuesday, a state judge ruled that there was enough evidence to take the two men to trial. He also ordered Gilberto O.A. and Jorge Alberto L.J. to remain in custody while the trial is ongoing.
There was no immediate word about the child’s whereabouts, though minors who are victims of any type of violence are typically handed over to the custody of DIF, the government’s child services agency which runs shelters and provides medical and psychological help.
The truth about sexual assaults of migrants has been hotly debated by politicians in the United States, as they call for more border security and dissuading Latin American migrants from making a very dangerous trip north.
The nonprofit Doctors Without Borders in 2017 published a report stating that 31 percent of migrant women passing through Mexico had been victims of sexual violence.
