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Buenos Aires Court Sets Precedent, Jails Inmate 20 Years for Non-Contact Sexual Abuse

The ruling holds that coercing a child to perform sexual acts on herself through online threats counts as carnal access under Argentine law.

Overview

  • The provincial Tribunal en lo Criminal Nº4 convicted Orlando Tristán Novillo and set a 20-year effective sentence that he must serve in full without early release.
  • Judges found he ran the abuse from prison with fake Instagram and Messenger profiles to control a 12-year-old and force acts on camera, including insertion of objects, while extorting her for money and purchases.
  • Prosecutors backed the charges with the child’s Cámara Gesell interview, platform reports and IP logs, phone and account forensics, banking and payment records, and testimony from family and clinicians.
  • The court determined the abuse spanned 2020 to 2023 until a dance teacher reported the coercion in February 2023, which triggered the criminal investigation.
  • Legal analysts and child-safety groups say the decision sets guidance for tech-driven grooming cases and warn about AI-made abuse images and the spread of coerced content, as separate regional arrests and convictions highlight a wider crisis.