‘La Chiqui’, the cleaner who abused a girl in a school bathroom in Bogotá

Lorena*, age 6, began to change. Her parents noticed strange behaviors in her, among them, her reluctance to return to the Francisco José de Caldas school in Engativá, Colombia.

At first, her parents thought their daughter was being bullied, but every time they asked her, she would start crying and deny it. Everything was confusion in her family until one day she exploded and she told everything that was happening to her.

Look: The Colombian attorney general’s plane makes an emergency landing due to a breakdown

A cleaner from the educational campus intercepted her every time she entered the bathrooms and touched her improperly there. Her parents suffered an emotional shock while the little girl told them what happened.

The next day they went to school and informed the directors, but the response was blunt and even indifferent. That March 29, 2022, they were told that the domestic workers were hired through a private company and that they had no contact with the children. “But my baby told me that she was touched by a cleaner every time she went to make chichi. Her face was anguished, ”said the victim’s mother at the time of her.

Faced with such an arid reaction, they filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office. The prosecutor to whom the case was assigned immediately sent the Judicial Police, but the school’s directors were reluctant to provide information. “Incredible. He had to call them and send them a court order so that they would deliver all the supplies that were needed. Otherwise, they would be linked as co-authors of the act. They were asked what route they had activated and to this day they have not answered us anything.

Soon they had to give the name of the cleaning company and the resumes of all the cleaners on the shift in question who worked at the school. In order not to make mistakes, it was very important to verify their work schedules and have their images to put together the photographic recognition albums.

The judicial police moved quickly to go to the place and obtain all the information. There were four women who worked during the hours in which the girl remembered having been subjected and humiliated by a stranger.

While this evidentiary material was collected, the victim was listened to carefully in a forensic interview conducted by professionals who know how to deal with these cases without re-victimizing. “The protocol used in white code cases was used, that is, comprehensive care for victims of sexual violence,” said the prosecutor. The girl reported that she had been abused at least eight times in the bathroom of her school without anyone helping her.

Asked when was the last time, the little girl said between sobs: “It was eight days ago, when my mom saw me sad and crying and I didn’t want to go to my school anymore.” The employee took advantage of the break hours to chase his victim with his eyes, intercept him and push the bathroom door to invade his intimate spaces.

When the victim saw a total of four photographic albums put together by the investigators, he immediately identified her. “There was no doubt. The girl said: ‘She is the one who touches me. She has a blue uniform and a broom.’” She also told her parents and her psychologist who was treating her. The victim remained in her version.

In the middle of his harrowing story he said that she had not told her parents because the cleaner threatened her that if she said anything, she would stick her head in the toilet. This plunged her into constant depression and decay.

This process was key to obtaining the arrest warrant. Four days later, the procedure was completed. The woman had to answer to justice.

aka Chiqui

The Bogotá woman behind the horrendous crime had always worked as a domestic worker, in fact, her contract had been in force since 2016. She lived with her daughters in the Santa Cecilia neighborhood. She is very short: 1.50 meters, and recognized in her environment as ‘Chiqui’.

The impressive work of the investigators in the case made it possible to discover his place of residence in record time. “The success of these investigations largely depends on the prosecutor’s coordination, having all the necessary orders to locate the target,” said one of the investigators.

The team soon had information on the places he frequented, his schedules and regular activities. “When we had the warrant from the judicial police, the next day the capture materialized outside his home. She was going out with her daughter. He did not expect it, he had not suspected anything, but something was behind his dismissal from the company.

All material evidence was identified, individualized and listed. Today he is under arrest and waiting for the indictment to be issued, he is a danger to society. The crime is sexual acts with minors under 14 years of age aggravated, homogeneous and successive. “Aggravated because the people who work in the schools are the ones the children place all their trust in. There is a power relationship and these people abuse this, “explained the prosecutor in the case.

Alias ​​la Chiqui did not stop crying in the audience. “But when I explained to her why she was there, she reacted as when a person knows that she did something and that he has to answer,” said the prosecutor.

In this case, a disciplinary measure against the school is also expected because they did not provide the Prosecutor’s Office with the agile help that is expected in these cases. “The process could have been carried out in less time, but due to the lack of collaboration, we had to investigate further. The educational community has to understand that children are the priority and that they must be believed when they report that they have been abused”.

The victim is in the process of reestablishing her rights and receiving medical and psychological treatment with the help of the Secretariat for Women. He was left with serious consequences due to the abuse of which he was a victim. “He avoids going to the bathroom and is suffering from kidney disease,” the family said.

Abrupt changes in sphincter control are, in many cases, possible signs of sexual abuse. “A high percentage of cases are discovered because children show these signs or begin to have sexualized attitudes or games with other people or dolls.”

Alias ​​la Chiqui has been in El Buen Pastor prison since April 26 and will have to answer for ending the innocence of a girl. “Lorena came from a beautiful, close home with loving parents. She was well cared for and fed. It is not fair that this happens and less in a space where they are going to be happy, “concluded the prosecutor, relentless in the case.* Victim’s name changed for being a minor.

You can report

As of May 2022, there are 228 disciplinary proceedings against public servants of the Ministry of Education (SED) for the alleged commission of some of the typologies included in the category of sexual violence against minors. In addition, more than 3,000 pedagogical accompaniments have been developed with educational communities.

Pilas There is the campaign designed by the SED with the collaboration of more than 30 public and private entities and NGOs for the prevention, denunciation, rejection and punishment of sexual violence. The campaign seeks to provide tools to identify the different types of sexual violence. Victims can be assisted on line 123 and the Orientation area in each of the public and private schools.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.