A Guatemalan court has sentenced six former public officials, including two police officers, to prison terms ranging from six to 25 years for their roles in one of the deadliest tragedies in the country’s recent history a 2017 fire that killed 41 girls who had been locked in a classroom inside a state-run youth shelter.
On August 12, Judge Ingrid Cifuentes of Guatemala City delivered cumulative prison sentences for the defendants, who were found guilty of crimes including homicide, mistreatment of minors, abuse of authority, dereliction of duty, and breach of duty. The sentences ranged from six years for the least culpable to 25 years for the most responsible, although prosecutors had sought even harsher penalties.
The tragedy unfolded on March 8, 2017, at the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción shelter in San José Pinula, about 13 miles from the capital. The government-run home was meant to protect at-risk children but had become notorious for abuses, neglect, and mistreatment. Most of the victims girls aged between 12 and 17 had already endured sexual abuse, violence, or abandonment, often from their own families.
On the night before the fire, nearly 100 children attempted a mass escape, desperate to flee the shelter’s squalid and abusive conditions. Officials rounded them up, locking the boys in an auditorium and the girls in a small, overcrowded classroom. They were denied access to a bathroom and held for hours under guard.
According to court findings, someone inside the classroom lit a match in a desperate attempt to force police to open the door. Instead of releasing them, officers stood by as flames and smoke filled the room. Judge Cifuentes highlighted the shocking inaction — over a dozen police officers debated whether to unlock the door, even as the supervisor stood just 10 feet away with the keys on her belt.
Santos Torres, former head of the shelter, and Carlos Rodas, former head of the government’s social welfare office, each received at least 20 years for child abuse, dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, and manslaughter.
- Lucinda Marroquín, a former national police officer who had the classroom key but failed to open the door, was sentenced to at least 13 years.
- Brenda Chamán, head of the shelter’s office against abuse, received at least 12 years.
- Luis Pérez Borja, former police subcommissioner, was sentenced to at least six years.
- Gloria Castro, a former children’s ombudsman, also received six years.
A seventh defendant, Harold Flores, former head of the child and adolescent protection division, was acquitted.
The sentencing hearing was emotional, with family members of the victims breaking down in tears, hugging each other as the verdicts were read. Human rights lawyer Edgar Pérez, representing some of the families, called the ruling a crucial acknowledgment that the Guatemalan state had failed the girls in its care. However, he cautioned that appeals could delay actual imprisonment.
For survivors like Elba Contreras, now 22, the decision brought a measure of closure. She applauded the judge’s call for further investigations, including into former President Jimmy Morales for his role in ordering police to the shelter. “The girls will now rest in peace,” she said. “I can let them go.”
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