Six Convicted in 2017 Fire That Killed 41 Girls in Guatemala Group Home

Americas|Six Convicted in 2017 Fire That Killed 41 Girls in Guatemala Group Home

Six former Guatemalan public officials were convicted on Tuesday in connection with a 2017 fire that killed 41 girls who had been locked in a classroom in a government-run group home.

Ingrid Cifuentes, a judge in Guatemala City, handed down cumulative prison sentences as long as 25 years and some as short as six years against the six defendants, who had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had sought longer sentences.

Family members of the girls cried and hugged while sitting in the courtroom during the hearing.

The fire, which occurred on March 8, 2017, was one of the deadliest tragedies in Guatemala since the end of the civil war decades ago. The blaze broke out in a home for at-risk youth who had been placed there by the government.

Santos Torres, the former head of the home, called Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción, and Carlos Rodas, the former head of the government’s social welfare office, were each sentenced to at least 20 years in prison on charges of child abuse, dereliction of duty, abuse of authority and manslaughter.

Lucinda Marroquín — a former Guatemalan national police officer who had a key to the classroom but did not immediately open the door, the judge said — was sentenced to at least 13 years.

Brenda Chamán, who oversaw the group home’s office against abuse, received at least 12 years in prison; Luis Pérez Borja, a former national police subcommissioner, was sentenced to at least six years; and Gloria Castro, a former ombudsman focused on children’s abuses, was sentenced to six years. They were convicted of a variety of crimes, including child abuse, dereliction of duty, abuse of authority and manslaughter.