Chile Ex Minister Disputes Child Abuser Cuts

CHILE · JUSTICE

A former Chilean justice minister says the law does not allow shorter prison terms for people convicted of child sex crimes. His statement undercuts the government’s defence of 56 such cuts.

Former Justice Minister Hernán Larraín reopened the Chile Supreme Court sentence reduction child abusers row on Friday, 23 October. He says the law gives no “acquired right” to a shorter sentence, contradicting the government.

President José Antonio Kast’s conservative government cut the terms of 56 people convicted of child sex crimes, citing Supreme Court doctrine. The row matters to US readers because it shakes a government that US investors and policy watchers follow.

Larraín and the Chile Supreme Court Sentence Reduction Child Abusers Debate

Larraín issued a public statement, which The Clinic, T13 and SoyChile all reported on Friday. He was justice minister from 2018 to 2022, and he belongs to the UDI, a conservative party.

He said that during his term he opposed a request from a man convicted of raping a child under 14. A court then ordered him to grant it, he said, because the man met the conditions of the law in force.

Larraín said repeated Supreme Court rulings forced his ministry to sign such decrees, each citing the ruling behind it. In his words, it was “not a discretionary decision” but compliance with a court order.

That experience led his government to draft a bill, presented in November 2019, to exclude these offenders. It became Law 21,421, signed on 28 January 2022 and published in the Official Gazette on 9 February.

No Acquired Right Under the 2022 Law

Larraín said lawmakers debated whether the exclusion covered only future convictions or also earlier ones. He said the record shows a prison benefit, not a criminal penalty, so the ban on retroactive criminal law did not apply.

He quoted the legislative history: “there is no acquired right to the sentence reduction.” One has it only if one meets the law in force when applying, he added, attaching part of the public record.

Larraín added that the Supreme Court first held that people convicted before the law were entitled to the benefit. “In recent rulings the Court has changed that position and has refused it,” he said, as T13 reported.

What Rabat and the Government Say

Rabat said on Wednesday, 21 October, that the ministry only complied with the Supreme Court. “It is compliance with a Supreme Court sentence,” he said, adding that the Court had granted protection petitions from all such inmates.

He said the ministry cited each ruling in its resolutions. The Clinic, citing the outlet Interferencia that broke the story, notes that the cuts were granted administratively, without an individual court order.

Government spokesman Gonzalo Arenas said on Friday that Kast is “not happy” with the cuts. He said that even if the government dislikes such decrees, it is one that “complies with the law.”

Arenas noted that Law 19,856, which created the benefit, dates from 2003, under a centre-left government. Asked on Friday whether he still backs Rabat, Kast twice raised a thumb, T13 reported.

Reaction From Politics

Jaime Gajardo, justice minister under former President Gabriel Boric, rejected Arenas’s comparison with his own decrees. He said they carried out court sentences, while ministers under Boric and Piñera refused these requests and fought them in court.

Gajardo asked the government to publish all 56 decrees. “If they were impeccable yesterday, why suspend them today?” he asked, as The Clinic reported.

Arturo Squella, senator and president of Kast’s Republican Party, called the idea of accusing a minister for obeying the law “absurd.” Later he answered Larraín on X with a pointed reference to Paul Schäfer, founder of the Colonia Dignidad sect, T13 reported.

Guillermo Ramírez, president of the UDI, said the first responsibility lies with a law that was not clear enough. The second, he said, lies with courts that read it as not applying backwards.

The opposition has demanded Rabat’s exit and is weighing a constitutional accusation against him, The Clinic and T13 reported. No accusation had been filed in the reports reviewed.

The Government Pauses New Cuts

On Friday Rabat suspended work on all pending sentence reduction decrees, the Ministry of Justice said. The pause does not change the 56 decrees already signed, The Clinic reported.

The ministry says its review found a legal gap for people sentenced before 2022. It plans urgent bills to stop such benefits and to create sentence enforcement courts, with debate expected next week.

Within the governing coalition, some acknowledged that the reaction was slow, The Clinic reported. Some also noted the tension between pausing new decrees now and having signed earlier ones.

What It Means for US Readers

There is no direct effect on Americans visiting Chile or on trade. The dispute matters because it puts pressure on a government that US investors and policy watchers follow.

A cabinet crisis in an index country draws attention beyond Santiago. The Power Index row above shows Chile’s standing.

For background, read the earlier report Chile Cuts Terms of 56 Child Sex Offenders. More coverage is on the Chile hub.

The government is also under fire over a separate case, covered in Chile Confirms Punta Peuco Sentence Cuts. For the wider country picture see the Chile explained guide.

What Is Not Known

The Supreme Court’s own rulings were not reviewed, because the judiciary’s website could not be opened. It is therefore not confirmed which recent rulings changed course, and the Court had not commented in the reports reviewed.

The names of the 56 people and the decree texts have not been published, and this report names no convicted person. Rabat had not answered Larraín’s statement in the sources reviewed.

It is not known whether the opposition will file its accusation, or whether Congress will pass the bills. Sources also differ on whether the cuts were required by court orders or granted on the ministry’s own initiative.

What Comes Next

Watch the Congress debate on the urgent bills expected next week, and any move to file a constitutional accusation. Neither step would undo the 56 decrees already signed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Hernán Larraín say about the sentence cuts?

He said Chilean law gives no acquired right to a sentence cut and that the Supreme Court has recently refused such cuts. He said court rulings had forced him to grant one request during his term.

How many sentences did Chile cut?

The Justice Ministry signed 56 cuts between 11 March and 13 September for people convicted of sexual crimes against minors. Of them, 27 involved abuse and 29 rape.

What does the government say?

Minister Fernando Rabat says the ministry followed Supreme Court doctrine on convictions before 2022. Spokesman Gonzalo Arenas says the government complies with the law, even when it dislikes the result.

Is the Supreme Court’s position settled?

Not from the sources reviewed. Larraín says its recent rulings changed, while Rabat cites earlier doctrine; the rulings themselves were not available.

What happens next?

The ministry has paused pending decrees and plans urgent bills. The opposition is weighing a constitutional accusation against Rabat, and the 56 signed decrees stay in force.

Sources: The Clinic, Larraín; T13, Larraín; SoyChile; T13, Rabat, 21 October; The Clinic, Gajardo; The Clinic, suspension; The Clinic, governing parties; T13, Kast; T13, Squella; Diario Oficial, Law 21,421 (all accessed 24 October 2026).