Former Florencio Varela police chief arrested for multiple sexual assaults against female officers
Leandro Omar Infante, 37, a former sub-commissioner at the 5th Police Station of La Capilla, was arrested at his home in Ingeniero Allan following a court order. Several police officers reported him for sexual violence and coercion.
Former Florencio Varela police chief arrested for multiple sexual assaults against female officers
A former officer of the Buenos Aires provincial police was arrested in early July at his residence in the Ingeniero Allan neighbourhood of Florencio Varela. The arrest warrant against Leandro Omar Infante, 37, who until last year commanded the 5th police station of La Capilla, was signed by the judge in charge of the Court of Guarantees No. 6, Dr Diego Agüero.
The case became public when a 28-year-old sergeant presented herself at the Women and Family Police Station of El Cruce Varela to report her superior. The officer, who works at the third police station, stated that she had maintained a romantic relationship outside of marriage with Infante for approximately eighteen months. According to her account, on the morning of 15 June, inside a rented property on Vélez Sarsfield in the city centre, the then police chief grabbed her forcefully by the arms, dragged her to the bathroom, removed her undergarments and subjected her to sexual assault via anal penetration. He then left the property.
The victim reported that similar episodes had occurred previously. She also provided messages that Infante had sent her by mobile phone, in which he warned her that he would take his own life if he saw her with any other man. She stated that fear of punishment had kept her silent, particularly because the police major Ramón Rodríguez, the station chief, was a direct relative of the accused. She added that a colleague of hers had filed a report with Internal Affairs that had gone without consequences.
The judicial investigation revealed that between September and October 2021 other instances of sexual violence were recorded at the same police station, with female officers as victims. In addition, an additional attack at a centrally located apartment in Florencio Varela was confirmed.
The earliest known precedent dates back to 25 September 2018, when Infante was in charge of the Villa España Detachment in Berazategui and Rodríguez held the district leadership position in that locality. When the latter was transferred to Florencio Varela, he arranged for his brother-in-law to assume leadership of the La Capilla police station.
Although the local press reported that the former sub-commissioner was acting with total impunity in the area, only when the formal complaints reached the courts was he removed from active duty in May 2022 by resolution of the General Audit of Internal Affairs. His arrest took place only a year later.
The victims described a pattern of conduct: physical assaults followed by intimidation to ensure silence.
_Information published by elsindical.com.ar_
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires