Two priests on the bench in Argentina for sexual abuse of deaf children

Two priests and a gardener appeared as accused in the first day of the trial for sexual abuse of a twenty deaf children at the Instituto Próvolo de Mendoza, a case that shakes the Argentine Catholic Church. The priests Nicola Corradi (Italian, 83 years old) and Horacio Corbacho (Argentine, 59 years old), and the gardener Armando Gómez (49) face charges of sexual abuse, corruption of minors and mistreatment for which they can be sentenced to penalties of up to 50 years in prison. Corbacho and Gómez were taken handcuffed into the room, while Corradi, in a wheelchair, was escorted by police officers. All three are in preventive detention. At the gates of the court, a group of young people from the institute demonstrated with banners reading "Support for survivors of Provolo" and "We do not forget!", Accompanied by family members and other people who showed their solidarity. The victims considered the process "historic", in a statement that was read publicly at the beginning of the day. "We expect an exemplary sentence," they affirmed. The trial takes place behind closed doors and must address 43 facts with testimonies from 13 victims in a process that can last two months. The Instituto Próvolo, located in Mendoza, 1,000 km west of Buenos Aires, was closed in 2016 after the first complaints were brought to justice for abuses committed since 2004. Hundreds of students passed through this free school for deaf and hard of hearing children, many of them came from humble families and returned home only on weekends.