Sex abuse: Bolivia investigates 35 Catholic Church members

Bolivian prosecutors are investigating 35 members of the Catholic Church after more than a dozen victims accused them of sexual abuse, authorities said Tuesday.

The statement comes as the country is reeling from confessions of abuse that were found in the personal diary of a Spanish priest who died in Bolivia in 2009 after decades of service there.

“At present, 35 people are accused and under investigation,” Daniela Caceres, a department head at the Bolivian attorney general’s office, told a press conference.

“We have 17 people, identified victims, but out of respect and as a precaution for the protection of the victims, we are not going to give specific details,” she added.

Prosecutors opened an investigation following a report by the Spanish daily El Pais in April about the late Spanish priest Alfonso Pedrajas, whose diary indicated that he had abused more than 80 minors in Bolivia, where he had lived since the early 1970s.

Pedrajas also noted in his journal that senior clergy had known about his crimes and kept quiet.

Prosecutors on Tuesday confirmed that a copy of Pedrajas’ diary had been delivered to them by the Society of Jesus in Bolivia. Punch