Chile protest demands minister quit over sex abuse sentences

Hundreds of people protested outside Chile's presidential palace on Tuesday, demanding that Justice Minister Fernando Rabat resign over reduced sentences for at least 56 child sex offenders.

Some protesters wore purple scarves, sang feminist chants and called for the offenders to be returned to prison. Local outlet Interferencia reported two weeks ago that sentences for a group of convicted rapists and other sexual offenders would be reduced.

President Jose Antonio Kast has said the state “failed” the victims. Pollster Cadem put his approval rating at 26 percent, described as a new low of his eight-month-old presidency.

Rabat has said he was following a Supreme Court guideline and could not refuse to apply the sentence reductions. The opposition said it will request an impeachment trial against him in Congress, the first against a Kast-appointed minister.