Former Varela police chief arrested for sexual assaults on female officers
A former commissioner of Florencio Varela was apprehended after being reported for sexually assaulting several women from the Buenos Aires security force.
Former Varela police chief arrested for sexual assaults on female officers
A former superior officer of the provincial security force was arrested on 3 July at his residence in the Ingeniero Allan neighbourhood within Florencio Varela district. The arrest warrant was signed by the magistrate of Guarantee Court No. 6, Dr Diego Agüero. The detainee is named Leandro Omar Infante, who held the rank of sub-commissioner until mid-2022.
As reported by El Sindical, the first reported incident dates from 25 September 2018. At that time, Infante commanded the Villa España outpost in Berazategui, while Ramón Rodríguez—his relative by marriage—served as the highest authority in the district.
Over time, Rodríguez took command of Florencio Varela District and arranged Infante's transfer to head the 5th Precinct of La Capilla. During his tenure there, between September and October 2021, various episodes of sexual violence occurred against female subordinates. Investigators also confirmed a similar act committed in a central apartment in the city.
The arrest took place just days after the court requested the precautionary measure. The victims agreed in stating that the defendant first resorted to brute force and then to intimidation to silence them.
A 28-year-old sergeant was the one who initiated legal proceedings at the Women's Police Station. The officer, assigned to the Third precinct, revealed that she had maintained a parallel romantic relationship with Infante for close to eighteen months. In her testimony, she detailed that on the morning of 15 June both were in a rented residence on Vélez Sarsfield at number 100. There, the former commander grabbed her violently, dragged her to the bathroom, removed her underwear and penetrated her anally, then withdrew.
The officer clarified that that had not been the only occasion. According to her account, Infante harassed her with WhatsApp messages, making threats to take his own life if he saw her with anyone else. She postponed the complaint out of fear of reprisals, given that the Station Chief, Chief Commissioner Rodríguez, was the perpetrator's brother-in-law. She added, furthermore, that a colleague had filed a complaint with the Internal Affairs Audit office, which resulted in no major consequences.
To the sergeant's statement were added testimonies of other officers who described similar suffering. It should be recalled that the General Internal Affairs Audit had already removed Infante from the institution in May 2022, once the complaints had formally reached the courts.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires