adminSabas Chahuan said on Friday that his office will look at 49 schools in eastern Santiago and 12 in the city’s west side.
Several teachers have recently been accused of sexually molesting children at schools in affluent neighbourhoods in the eastern part of Santiago.
Reports of sexual abuse of children under the age of 14 jumped 22 per cent in the first half of the year from the same period in 2011, according to official estimates.
“Wherever there are children, we will investigate just the same as we do with corruption or economic crimes,” Chahuan said after meeting with representatives of a parents associa-tion. “We put ourselves in the place of the parents and we know they’re worried, anxious and desperate.”
The government banned convicted paedophiles from working near children last month under a new law that also requires those convicted of sexually abusing minors to be registered in a database.
On Wednesday, President Sebastian Pinera announced stiffer punishments for people who distribute child pornography. He said Chile will toughen penalties on convicted paedophiles, increase the forensic institute budget and create a children’s ombudsman to protect their rights.
Pinera also urged lawmakers to review and fast-track about 100 bills before Congress that could protect children against sexual abuse.
Under new measures, young sex abuse victims will need only to provide a video-recorded statement once so they can avoid the stress of repeatedly having to retell their painful episodes.
The president said the sex offender database would be fully working starting in August.
Chile is one of South America’s most strongly conservative nations in social matters. The Catholic Church retains a firm influence in society, although in recent years it has been hit by scandals with priests being accused of molesting children. — AP.
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