Fernando Espinoza, the former mayor of Peronist stronghold La Matanza, will stand trial for alleged “sexual assault and disobedience,” after a judge rejected his defence team’s request for dismissal.
Criminal court judge Fernando Caunedo on Tuesday declared the investigation closed and referred the case for oral trial.
“Despite the defence’s efforts to discredit the plaintiff and the extensive document submitted to demand the defendant’s acquittal, echoing the coinciding requests of both prosecutors, I find the proposed irregular termination of the process at this critical stage inadmissible,” wrote Judge Caunedo in a ruling.
A final decision can only be reached at trial, in line with the procedural developments, said the magistrate.
Espinoza, 56, is accused of sexually assaulting plaintiff Melody Jacqueline Rakauskas on the evening of May 10, 2021, at her apartment in La Matanza.
“The defendant, mayor of the said municipality and then the complainant’s hierarchical superior, arrived at the location after previously telling her that he wanted to have dinner with her to discuss work matters,” continues the ruling.
Espinoza, who remains free for now, denied the accusations as “absolutely false, a lie and a put-up job.”
Rakauskas was employed as a private secretary to the mayor’s office when the incident allegedly took place.
She says she started working for the La Matanza municipal government on April 28, 2021, “off the books” and that she was referred to under the false name of “María Micucci.”
A few days later, the mayor invited her to dinner at his home, “which took her by surprise since he phrased it as a directive rather than a request,” she testified.
This pattern repeated itself twice more until the night of the alleged abuse at her residence, she said in her complaint.
Rakauskas alleges that the mayor asked for a massage and then tried to sexually assault her. After pressuring her to perform oral sex on him, she refused and he left the home “angrily,” she said.
Espinoza will also face a possible conviction for allegedly violating a restraining order put in place by a previous judge to protect the plaintiff. An associate of the politician visited the plaintiff’s home to “speak with her and ask her to withdraw the complaint,” prosecutors allege.
Rakauskas says she has been subjected to “numerous pressures” since filing the sexual abuse complaint.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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