SANTIAGO: Chilean authorities on Friday seized documents and computers in raids targeting the Catholic church in the cities of Temuco and Villarrica amid a pedophilia scandal that has gripped the country, judicial sources said.
Local media reported the investigation began on June 19 following allegations of sexual abuse against five clergy members.
The operations took place after the bishops of those cities refused to hand over information requested by prosecutors.
The raids came after prominent Chilean Catholic priest Oscar Munoz, who was vice-chancellor and then chancellor in the archdiocese of Santiago, was detained Thursday over allegations that he sexually abused and raped seven children between 2002 and 2018.
Munoz, 56, faces a 15 year prison sentence for the alleged abuse, which took place from 2002 in the capital Santiago and the southern city of Rancagua.
He was placed in preventative detention on Friday.
The Chilean church has been hit by pedophilia scandals implicating dozens of priests. Pope Francis has accepted the resignations of five bishops, four of whom were accused of turning a blind eye to abuse or covering it up.
Chilean police raid bishops over sex abuse allegations
Chilean police raid bishops over sex abuse allegations
- Munoz, 56, faces a 15 year prison sentence for the alleged abuse
- The Chilean church has been hit by pedophilia scandals implicating dozens of priests
UK upper house approves social media ban for under-16s
LONDON: Britain’s upper house of parliament voted Wednesday in favor of banning under?16s from using social media, raising pressure on the government to match a similar ban passed in Australia.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he was not ruling out any options and pledged action to protect children, but his government wants to wait for the results of a consultation due this summer before legislating.
Calls have risen across the opposition and within the governing Labour party for the UK to follow Australia, where under-16s have been barred from social media applications since December 10.
The amendment from opposition Conservative lawmaker John Nash passed with 261 votes to 150 in the House of Lords, co?sponsored by a Labour and a Liberal Democrat peer.
“Tonight, peers put our children’s future first,” Nash said. “This vote begins the process of stopping the catastrophic harm that social media is inflicting on a generation.”
Before the vote, Downing Street said the government would not accept the amendment, which now goes to the Labour-controlled lower House of Commons. More than 60 Labour MPs have urged Starmer to back a ban.
Public figures including actor Hugh Grant urged the government to back the proposal, saying parents alone cannot counter social media harms.
Some child-protection groups warn a ban would create a false sense of security.
A YouGov poll in December found 74 percent of Britons supported a ban. The Online Safety Act requires secure age?verification for harmful content.
