Uruguayan senator accused of sexual exploitation of minors asks for his own removal from office

Gustavo Penadés, senator of the Republic of Uruguay, asked yesterday for a vote on his removal to put himself “at the orders” of the Public Prosecutor’s Office investigating several complaints against him for alleged sexual exploitation of minors.

In a letter addressed to the president of the General Assembly of the Parliament, the Uruguayan vice-president Beatriz Argimón, Penadés reiterated his request to proceed to vote for his removal “immediately in the plenary, without passing through the Constitution and Legislation Committee of the Senate”.

In this way, the legislator of the ruling National Party (PN) seeks “to be suspended as such” to “place me at the orders of the prosecutor as soon as possible”, as he expressed in the letter made public by the local media.

This afternoon, the request for the removal of Penadés’ immunity formally arrived at the General Assembly from the Supreme Court of Justice after Judge Marcela Vargas submitted the request of the prosecutor in the case, Alicia Ghione.

Legislators of all parties have agreed that the request to remove his colleague’s immunity will be approved without further proceedings.

Prosecutor Ghione is investigating the legislator due to complaints from eight people who claim that when they were minors, they received money in exchange for sexual acts from Penadés, 57.

Penadés “categorically denied the criminal conduct” and said that these allegations were intended to subject him to “public scorn” when the first public complaint emerged last month.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou said that Penadés told him he was innocent and assured him that he “would be a bad friend if he did not believe him”.

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