Picciochi molested Sebastián Cuattromo, age 13, and another 7th-grade student in 1989 and 1990 on a camping trip and at the Marianista de Caballito School in the city of Buenos Aires. Former Marianist superior Luis Casalá admitted that in 1991 he was
informed of an “act of aggression” by Picciochi against another
student. That so-called act of aggression was actually attempted
sexual abuse that the boy resisted and later revealed to his parents, who went to the school and reported it in person to Casalá. As a result, Picciochi was sent for an evaluation; the results, according to Casalá, showed him to be “normal, not homosexual.” Two years later, in 1993, the order transferred the cleric to a Marianist parish in Rio Negro, in the south.
In June 2000, Cuattromo and his former classmate informed the school of their abuse and said they would be seeking legal action against both Picciochi and the order. The Marianists persuaded them to accept compensation of $40,000 each in exchange for confidentiality and dropping the charges against the order.
In September 2000, Picciochi was criminally charged with ‘repeated corruption of minors.’ He disappeared, and in 2001, Cuattromo learned that he was living in the US.
In 2002, Cuattromo went to the Legal Council of the city of Buenos Aires and succeeded in getting his confidentiality agreement nullified. He then went to the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires to ask for the church too to overturn the gag order. He met with Martin Garcia Aguirre, Archbishop Bergoglio's personal secretary, who sent him to Father Mario Poli, vicar of the archdiocese’s Flores district. Cuattromo presented his case to Poli but never heard back from him.
On March 21, 2007, Picciochi was arrested in the US and detained in an immigrants’ center in Persall, Texas. He was extradited to Argentina in September 2010. In September 2012, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sexual abuse of at least 5 children, all of whom had been Marianista School students.
On March 28, 2013, Mario Poli was appointed Buenos Aires archbishop by Pope Francis.
Cuattromo went on to lead the group "Adults for Childhood Rights," established to foster collective action to fight against child sexual abuse.
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• Settlement Agreement with Gag Order, Sebastián Cuattromo and Second Victim v Instituto Cultural Marianista, 12.27.2001 (2 pages)
• Abuso con sotana, by Mariana Carbajal, Página/12, 4.28.2002
• Cuattromo Released from Gag Order: Ruling by Public Ombudsman, La Defensoria del Pueblo, Buenos Aires, 5.29.2002 (16 pages - see pages 11-16)
• Referente Marianista Dijo Conocer un Caso de "Agresion" del Religioso Denunciado por Abuso, ar.noticias.yahoo.com, 6.23.2012
• El largo camino hacia la justicia, by Mariana Carbajal, Página/12, 8.12.2012
• Breaking the Silence, by Mariana Carbajal, Página/12, 8.12.2012 [Translation]; en Español
• Bishop Poli, Linked to “Net of Silence”, La Arena, 8.15.2012 [Translation]; en Español
• Llega el turno de la Justicia, by Mariana Carbajal, Página/12, 8.21.2012
• Another Priest Tried for Sex Abuse, by Jorge Luis Calcagno, Diario Democracia, 9.23.2012 [Translation]; en Español
• Sentenced to 12 Years of Prison: Ex-Priest Who Abused Students at a School in Caballito, Clarín, 9.25.2012 [Translation]; en Español
• Ex-Catechist Sentenced to 12 Years of Prison for Sexual Abuse, by Gabriel Bermúdez, Clarín, 9.26.2012 [Translation]; en Español
• I Freed Myself from a Heavy Weight: Justice Has a Liberating Effect, Clarín, 9.27.2012 [Translation]; en Español
• Court Document: Conviction of Picciochi, Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal 8, 10.2.2012 (34 pages)
• "La organización de las víctimas de abuso sexual es fundamental”, by Mariana Dufour, Agepeba, 1.30.2013
• Escuchar a las víctimas, by Mariana Carbajal, Página/12, 12.15.2013
• Opinion: The Most Unpunished Crime on Earth, by Sebastián Cuattromo, Tiempo Argentino, 7.08.2014 [Translation]; en Español
• Sebastián Cuattromo's Blog: Abuses in the Marianist Institute (Abusos en el Instituto Marianista) |
