Former nun gets 20 years in Argentina abuse case

Former Catholic nun Kumiko Kosaka was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Argentina on Thursday over a clerical abuse scandal involving a boarding school for hearing-impaired children.

Kosaka, a 51-year-old Japanese national, was convicted at her second trial of aggravated sexual abuse and of covering up for priests who abused children aged between four and 17.

The case is known as the Provolo affair, after the Antonio Provolo Institute in Mendoza, where dozens of children were abused over decades. The allegations led to the facility's closure.

At a first trial in 2019, two priests, a gardener and a former choir boy received prison sentences ranging from 10 to 45 years.

A second trial began in 2023 against a group of nuns and female staff members accused of complicity and covering up abuse. All nine defendants, including Kosaka, were acquitted. Kosaka was also accused of aggravated sexual abuse.

In August, the Supreme Court of Mendoza province annulled Kosaka's acquittal, leading to the new trial.

Ariel Lizarraga, the father of one victim, said after the conviction that he was satisfied to have obtained the justice sought for his daughter and other victims.

Kosaka left the order that ran the institute after the first complaints emerged. She remains free pending legal challenges but is barred from travelling outside Mendoza province.