Chile Daily News Brief: August 1, 2014

I Love Chile
August 1, 2014

http://www.ilovechile.cl/2014/08/01/chile-daily-news-august-1-2014/116441

The 4th Court of Santiago will hear from John O’Reilly, the former priest who is accused of committing sexual abuse against two underage students at Colegio Cumbres, where he performed functions as member of the Legionaries of Christ congregation for over a decade.

Charges were reported in August of last year, but formalized in 2014: O’Reilly has pleaded not guilty to the accused charges between 2007 and 2012. He has been suspended for the last 14 months.

An influential Irish priest amongst Santiago’s elite community in Las Condes, the 66-year-old was also the face, and principal collector, of the Legionaries of Christ in Chile.

In a 2012 interview with the Clinic, O’Reilly describes his persecution and subsequent future as a “dead man walking.”

The trial is expected to run for at least two months, with approximately 92 witnesses declaring statements.

In addition, the Court has resolved the request to take statements in the separate room of the Second Gesell Oral Criminal Court, per the public prosecutor and two complainants’ requests, which would allow testimony to take place without exposing the accused to the alleged victims.

If convicted, the priest could face up to 20 years in prison.

Two Police Officers Fired for Drinking and Driving:

A police lieutenant is fired today after driving under the influence and crashing into the central median where the monument of General Baquedano is located.

Santiago Burgos, officer of the 45th precinct of Cerro Navia, was driving around 4:50 p.m. traveling east to west along Providencia Avenue. A companion traveling with his suffered minor injuries from the impact.

This was confirmed by captain of the 19th Precinct of Providencia, Jose Lorca, who said the officer was “obviously under the influence of alcohol;” an investigation into the accident ultimately resulted in Burgos’ termination from the force.

The second officer was driving a police vehicle for Valparaiso Cerro Las Canas at around 1:20 a.m. on Friday morning, when the Chevrolet Spark veered off Highway 1, pasaje Los Olivos, and crashed into a woman’s home.

The driver was wearing a police uniform when police officers arrived at the scene and discovered he was impaired.

The injured woman was taken to hospital Carlos Van Buren in Valparaiso where she received medical attention and was discharged.

Allegedly, several hours before the officer had been celebrating his recent promotion. The officer was also fired from the force, and is required to pay reparations for the damaged home.

Attempted Robbery at Las Condes:

At around 7:05 a.m. Friday morning a gang of five criminals attempted to blow-up an ATM in an Ahumada pharmacy – but failed to when witnesses activated the alarm. The criminals promptly fled the scene using the car they had arrived in, located between the intersection of Avenida Colon and Sebastian Elcano.

The criminals had forced entry into the pharmacy using a screwdriver, and placed the bomb next to the ATM before the alarm was pulled. The explosive was hidden inside a black Nike bag.

Group Personal Especialers Police Operations (GOPE) have conducted tests on the bag, but the whereabouts of those responsible are still unknown.