The Lower House, Congress, has approved a Partido Popular motion to toughen laws relating to the sexual abuse of minors and to set up a register of paedophiles.
The paedophile register would only be available to the judiciary and the security forces but is seen as a means of preventing another ‘Mari Luz’ scenario. In the case of Mari Luz Cortes, her alleged murderer, Santiago del Valle, should actually have been serving a prison sentence at the time of the killing.
In addition to the paedophile register, there are calls for a toughening of sentences relating to offences against minors.