Another mountain town, another priest charged with sexual abuse

Santiago.- The hearings to decide on whether to indict catholic priest Juan Manuel de Jesús Mota (Johnny) on sexual assault charges has become a witch-hunt against the accusers, according to the lawyers of the seven victims.

During the first hearing, Constanza prosecutor Juana María Castillo said a mob led by the former mayor Ernesto Joaquín Gómez (Chito) pushed and shoved two of the women who filed complaints.

"What’s happening here is that even I have bee threatened and these poor girls, fans of the cure have been manhandled," said Castle in a telephone interviews by newspaper El Caribe.

The scandal in Constanza comes in the heels of another case of alleged sexual abuse by a catholic priest, Wojciech Gil, in the mountain town of Juncalito, Santiago province.