Defrocked Chilean priest gets 15 years for abusing minors

By: 3 years ago

In this file photo taken on July 13, 2018 Chilean priest Oscar Munoz Toledo leaves a courtroom in Rancagua, 80 km south of Santiago, Chile. AFP

SANTIAGO, Chile—A defrocked priest who once held senior positions in the Catholic Church in Chile was sentenced to 15 years in prison Saturday for raping and otherwise sexually abusing minors for more than a decade.

The sentence against Oscar Munoz, 60, was handed down by a criminal court in the capital Santiago.

Munoz was a well-known clergyman who held senior positions under the archbishop of Santiago and as recently as 2018 under Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati.

The latter is accused of covering up many cases of sexual abuse of minors within the church in Chile.

Munoz is accused of raping or abusing at least five minors. Two other alleged victims are still being evaluated.

Munoz has been in preventive prison since 2018 as he awaited sentencing.

His alleged crimes span from 2002 to 2018.

Prosecutors had asked for a 30 year sentence for him.

Pope Francis expelled Munoz from the church in 2019.

As in other countries around the world, the Catholic church in Chile has confronted a wave of charges that its priests sexually abused minors.