A man who had a counseling program on Radio Fides, the official radio station of the Archdiocese of San José, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for two counts of rape of a minor, who at the time was 12 years old.
The sentence against Edie Ramón Villalobos Chavarría, 39, was handed down Thursday night by the Desamparados Trial Court.
According to the accusation filed by the Public Ministry, in April 2015, and after making some inquiries, the victim’s mother contacted Villalobos to give the girl religious guidance, because the man had a program on the Catholic radio station.
The counselor agreed to talk with the young girl in a private clinic in Desamparados, the site where one of the rapes took place.
According to the prosecution, Villalobo had another appointment with the minor on August 4 of the same year in the family home. Villalobos was left alone with the minor in one of the rooms of the house.
During trial, it was not possible to demonstrate that Villalobos was a religious or spiritual leader, a situation that would have aggravated the qualification of the crimes and consequently that the penalty would be higher.
Villalobos was ordered to six months detention while the appeals process is exchausted.
José Francisco Madrigal, the lawyer who represented the family of the victim, was satisfied with the sentence imposed, although he added that no sentence is sufficient to repair the damage and pain that the young girl has gone through.
