A Roman Catholic nun from Japan has been arrested and charged on suspicion of helping priests sexually abuse children at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina.
Kosaka Kumiko, 42, was charged with helping the priests with anal and vaginal rapes, fondling and oral sex, which were allegedly committed in the bathrooms, dormitories, garden and a basement at the school in Lujan de Cuyo, a city about 620 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.
The case against Kumiko began after a former student accused her of making her wear a diaper to cover up a hemorrhage after she was allegedly raped by priest Horacio Corbacho.
‘I am innocent,’ she told judicial officials, who ordered her to be taken into custody at a local women’s prison while detectives investigate the alleged crimes.
The nun, who has Argentine citizenship, has also been charged with physically abusing the students – whose torments could only be heard by those abusing them since the other children were deaf – at the Antonio Provolo Institute for children with hearing impairment in northwestern Mendoza province.
But she denied any wrongdoing during an eight-hour court hearing late Thursday.
She was shown being led by police in handcuffs, and wearing her habit and a bullet-proof vest.
At least 24 students from the Provolo Institute have come forward to accuse Corbacho, fellow priest Nicola Corradi and three other men.