La Paz Man Sentenced to 22 Years for 2020 Rape of Minor

A court in La Paz sentenced a man identified as Ernesto “N” to 22 years in prison for the rape of a minor that occurred on October 9, 2020, in the La Escondida neighborhood. The conviction also carries 152 days in fines, the loss of parental rights, and court-ordered psychological therapy for the victim.

The Tribunal Unitario de Enjuiciamiento, a single-judge trial court in the Baja California Sur criminal justice system, issued the sentence after a series of evidentiary hearings. Under Mexican privacy law, the defendant’s surname is withheld and replaced with “N.”

Four-Year Gap Between Crime and Charges

The crime took place in 2020, but the PGJE (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, the state attorney general’s office) did not file formal charges until 2024. The delay followed the victim’s complaint being received and investigated by prosecutors. In Mexico’s accusatorial criminal system, cases can take years to move from initial complaint to trial, particularly in sexual violence cases involving minors where evidence gathering and victim testimony require careful handling.

La Escondida is a residential neighborhood on the western side of La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur. The area sits inland from the malecón and the tourist corridor, in the city’s working-class residential zones.

Sentence Includes Victim Reparations

Beyond the prison term, the court ordered mandatory psychological therapy for the victim as part of the sentence. This type of reparation has become more common under Mexico’s criminal procedure reforms, which require judges to consider the needs of victims when issuing sentences. The loss of parental rights was also imposed, though the specific relationship between the defendant and the victim was not detailed in the PGJE’s announcement.

The 22-year sentence is on the higher end for sexual assault convictions in Baja California Sur. Mexico’s federal penal code sets a range of eight to 20 years for the rape of a minor, but state-level penalties in BCS can exceed that range depending on aggravating factors.

The PGJE’s announcement of the conviction is part of a broader pattern of the office publicizing successful prosecutions in sexual violence cases. BCS prosecutors have pursued several historical cases in recent years, working through backlogs that accumulated during earlier periods of the state’s criminal justice system.

This story was first reported by BCS Noticias.