231 Years Prison For Sexual
Abuse of Minors
In two
unrelated and separate cases,
justices meted out some 231
years of prison against a man
and a woman for sexual abuse of
minors.
One case involved a teacher who
sexually three children between
the ages of 2 and 6 while in her
care; and the other, a 50 year
old man who abused the two young
girls of the woman he lived
with. The girls were 10 and 14
at the time of the abuse.
The Tribunal de Juicio de
Desamparados (San José)
yesterday imposed a 15 year
sentence on Sara Jiménez
Corrales, a teacher who was
found guilty of sexual abuse of
minors.
The acts occurred in 1999 when
Jiménez was a teacher at the
Cen-Cinai de San Felipe de
Alajuelita, San José, when she
sexually abused three children
who at the time were between the
ages of 2 and 6.
The judges in their decision
took into consideration the
testimony of the three minors.
In an unrelated case, 50 year
old, José Manuel Morales
Cascante, was sentenced by the
Tribunal de Juicio del Segundo
Circuito Judicial de San José to
216 years in prison on 36 counts
of sexual abuse of his two minor
step-daughters.
Notwithstanding the sentence,
the man will only spend the next
18 years in prison.
According to court information,
Morales lived with the mother of
the two young girls and would
wait until the middle of the
night when the mother was asleep
to abuse the girls, who were 10
and 14 at the time. The man
would also take his
opportunities when the mother
was away from the home and the
girls were left alone with
Morales.
The trial judges, in pronouncing
their senteenc, took into
consideration that most of the
sexual abuse was against the
younger of the two girls and the
sentenced reflected the acts
perpetrated against the minor.
President Pacheco To Attend
Meeting of Central American
Leaders
President Abel Pacheco is on his
way to Honduras today to take
part in a special meeting of the
Sistema de Integración
Centroamericano (SICA), called
by Honduras president, Ricardo
Maduro, who heads the
organization.
The meeting will discuss several
issues that affect Central
America. One, is the election of
of former president of El
Salvador, Fanciso Flores, as
Secretaría General de la
Organización de Estados
Americanos (OEA) - Secretary of
the Organization of American
States, the post vacated by
former Costa Rican president,
Miguel Angel Rodríguez, who is
currently in preventive
detention in Costa Rica's La
Reforma prison.
President Pacheco was clear that
his support for Flores is
unequivocable and would only
rescind his vote if Flores would
resign from the running.
Other discussions will centre on
the Tratado Libre de Comercio -
Free Trade Agreement - with the
United States that all Central
American countries have signed.
Costa Rica has yet to ratify the
agreement.
Discussions will also include
the possibility of creating a
Central American passport. SICA
has been analyzing the proposal
of one passport for the region.
President Pacheco, when asked of
his thoughts on the subject, was
emphatic that Costa Rica is not
considering such a proposal and
is too premature to be
discussing it.
All the leaders of the Central
American nations and the
Dominican Republic will be
attending the one day meeting.
SICA is constituted by those
eight nations, as well counts on
the participation of Mexico,
Spain and Taiwan as observers.
"Camila" Controversy Continues
The
controversy over the "putting
down" of a street dog in Tibás
continues. Yesterday, the
Archbishop of San José, Monseñor
Hugo Barrantes, gave support to
the priest who was only carrying
out orders given to him.
The Parrish in Tibás had
received numerous complaints of
the street dog named "camila"
and made the decision to put the
dog to sleep. Animal activists
protested Sunday in front of the
church, along with their pets,
against the actions of the
priest.
The group discounts the claims
by the Parrish that the dog was
a nuisance and some of the
elderly were being bothered by
the street dog, saying the
actions of the church is
considered cruelty to animals.
The Archbishop countered those
arguments by saying that there
was no cruelty involved. The
animal was not beaten or abused
in any way and was taken to
veterinary office to apply the
lethal injection.
Barrantes argued that lethal
injection is incorrect when
applied to humans, but can be
applied to animals. "We can't
allow animals to dominate the
world and that man is
humiliated", were the words of
the Archbishop.
Barrantes in defending the
actions of the church added that
the dog had been uncontrollable
his barking and had become a
nuisance to church goers and
during masses. He also added
that no animal shelter would
accept the street dog.
The priest who carried out the
order is taking the heat for the
actions and was unwilling to
disclose who gave him such an
order.
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Gasoline is Going Up. Again.
The Autoridad Reguladora de los
Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) -
the regulator of public prices
and services - yesterday
approved a request for a price
increase by the Refinadora
Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE).
Once it is published in the
official newspaper La Gaceta -
which is expected in the next
coupel of days - the new price
will be official at the gasoline
pumps.
The price of a litre of regular
gasoline will jump from ¢340 to
¢353 colones (us$0.73 to
us$0.76) and super gasoline goes
from ¢355 to ¢370 (us$0.77 to
us$0.80).
This is the first increase for
the year.
Costa Rican Exports Up
According to information
released by the Banco Central de
Costa Rica (BCCR) - the central
Bank - last year there more
Costa Rican products exported to
the United states, Canada and
Europe.
The BCCR says that exports in
2004 increased by 3% over the
year 2003 for a total of us$6.3
billion dollars.
Strong Control on
Fishing
After six years of failed attempts,
Costa Rica is close to establishing strong regulations on fishing.
A new law establishes strong penalties for illegal fishing and for improper
fishing practices.
The regulations include all areas, including sport fishing.
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