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Pedophiles prosecuted
Childrens rights activists praise the ruling, but say victims are being
neglected in Costa Rica.
After a tense, two-week trial during which
a key witness received death threats, on Dec. 5 - five Costa Rican men who
called themselves the Anonymous Pedophile Association of Costa Rica
received the maximum sentences possible under Costa Rican law in the first
Latin American trial of a pedophile ring.
Ringleader Cristiαn Araya Monge, 32, a
former audiovisual technician at the University of Costa Rica, was
convicted on 12 charges of sexually exploiting minors, pimping minors,
corruption of minors, producing child pornography and giving drugs to
minors. The self-proclaimed "experienced boy lover" was
sentenced to 58 years in prison, but the sentence was reduced to 30 years
the maximum allowed for the crime.
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