Gustavo Penadés, the former president of the Mercosur Parliament and a former senator in Uruguay, has had his preventive detention extended until February 6, 2025, following new charges against him.
Penadés has been in custody since October 2023, charged with 22 counts of sexual crimes against minors. On September 23, the National Party politician received two additional charges, including qualified bribery and criminal association, which extended his detention.
Sebastián Mauvezín, a local history teacher who is accused of “recruiting” minors for Penadés in exchange for payment, will also remain detained until the same date. The investigation has also been postponed until June 10, 2025.
The new charges accuse Penadés of meeting with police officials and IT experts as part of an alleged scam to prove his innocence. According to evidence presented by prosecutor Alicia Ghione, Penadés instructed them to identify his accusers and establish links between them in order to prove that their claims were fabricated.
He is alleged to have promised a house to former Comcar prison director – Carlos Taroco – who is currently serving three years in prison for his cooperation in the case. He also reportedly paid police officer Diego Rodríguez large sums of money in addition to paying hackers who accessed minors’ social media accounts.
A number of Penadés’ accusers have reported being threatened and followed by “strange” vehicles, some of which would park near the homes of the alleged victims. Prosecutor Ghione also reported that he received threats.
Prosecutor’s spokesman Javier Benech revealed that, according to Ghione and her team, “Penadés was the initiator and financier of what is known as ‘La Trama’ (The Plot), which is an illegal surveillance of victims to reveal identities and attempt to obstruct the investigation. The judge accepted these arguments and determined that there was sufficient evidence for the formal charges.”
He added: “The initial charges were for sexual offences, but, in the context of this investigation, we found another element that is very important”, namely “the use of state resources to try and identify the victims”.
Only two of Penade’s accusers have publicly identified themselves. One of them is Romina Papasso, a transgender woman who claims she was thirteen years old when she was picked up on the street and paid to have sex with Penadés. The alleged incident was before her transition.
The second complainant to be identified is Jonathan Mastropierro, who claims Mauvezín was the one who put him in touch with Penadés and claims Penadés is just one of several lawmakers who “sit on benches, paying minors for sex.”
