The son of the former mayor of Bogotá acquitted, accused of sexually abusing his own daughter

The 48th criminal court of the circuit with knowledge functions of Bogotá decided release, and acquit from the charges, Diego Pardo Cuéllar, a businessman, son of Diego Pardo Koppel, mayor of Bogotá from 1985 to 1986, who had been accused of sexually abusing his own daughter six years ago.

Pardo was being investigated for the crime of sexual act with a minor under 14 years of age (aggravated). According to the prosecutor’s report, the business administrator had sexually abused his daughter when she was between 3 and 4 years old.

It all goes back to 2013, when Pardo, and his wife, at that time, María Margarita Herrera, were in the process of divorce. In addition to the material arrangements, custody of the girl was one of the inconveniences that had the couple in conflict. Finally, a court decision determined that custody was shared, so Pardo could take his daughter with him every fortnight, periods during which, supposedly, the abuses would have been committed.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, and the first complaint that the mother of the minor made before the Chapinero family office, Pardo, who had joint custody rights over the girl between September 2014 and March 2015, the man “He kissed her on the mouth and touched her intimate parts.”

However, despite the mother’s complaint, who relied on testimonies from other people, such as Jaqueline Pérez, who worked as a domestic worker in the house that the former couple shared, and even that of the girl herself, the court 48 Diego Pardo Cuellar acquitted, who today is considered innocent due to the absence of conclusive evidence by the Prosecutor’s Office. “The testimony of the girl provides very few elements to have the legally relevant facts established by the Prosecutor’s Office in the accusation as proven; that is, although he admits that his father Diego Pardo Cuellar kissed him in his private parts, the apparent passage of time did not allow him to remember more details, such as the place or the age he was at that time “, the court sentenced.

And, according to the court, the girl’s version has inconsistencies as to the place where the abuses would have occurred, among other things that would be probative in the investigation. “Lthe minor did not recall aspects of what the house where the events took place was like, or who was there when his father kissed his private parts, or who lived in that house with his father. Nor did he remember the names of paternal grandparents ”.

Graciela Galán, clinical psychologist in charge of the case, assured that Herrera, the girl’s mother, had requested care for her daughter after noticing behaviors that were not common in her. In the middle of the sessions he had with the little girl, to find out what was happening, Galán declared that the girl was subjected to “Inappropriate situations in the paternal family environment”. He explained that the minor was being “induced to live a father-daughter secret.”

Despite this, the judicial office assured that the girl never mentioned anything that Galán had said.

Jaqueline Pérez, the woman who had worked for the former couple in the years in which the events were allegedly perpetrated, confirmed that the girl behaved differently, that, on some occasion, she had found the little girl touching her parts and that, when questioned, the minor had answered that it was “A secret from Diego”.

However, the testimonies were not sufficient proof for the court, which released Pardo; In addition to leaving him free of guilt, he questioned the mother for her reaction to the girl’s behavior, which could be an indication that something bad was happening to her.

“If Mrs. Herrera Mercado was so interested in her daughter’s emotional health, with all the more reason she should have taken the corrective measures in the case when she knows what, apparently, was the cause, and not wait several months to report her ex-husband for the insults committed. with your daughter”, the 48th court condemned in the middle of the hearing.

The father will recover the rights over the minor, as he is considered innocent by law and could visit his daughter, who is now nine years old.

“I’m happy, now I just want to regain my daughter’s love,” Pardo told El Tiempo newspaper, adding that, “with the acquittal the parental authority of my suspended daughter is recovered. My wish is to see my daughter now. The problem is that my ex-wife went to live with her in the United States and I have no contact ”.

The man said that the only thing that interests him now is the well-being of his daughter and recovering his good name and honor.

The case remains open to a possible new resolution due to the appeal of the ruling made by Francisco Bernate, a lawyer who is in defense of Margarita Herrera Mercado and her daughter.