A man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl close to him pleaded innocent at his trial on Monday. Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete has accused his whistleblower of threatening to falsely report him if he refused to pay for his plastic surgery.
Posted at 2:07pm
“She got angry. She was really complex and scared of losing her boyfriend. She wanted plastic surgery. If I didn’t call her back, she would complain about sex. [Elle disait] : “I am completely desperate. You have until tomorrow to give me an answer, otherwise I’ll ruin your life,” the 42-year-old told the jury.
Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete is accused of sexual assault, sexual assault and incitement to sexually touch a minor over a period of years. At the beginning of the trial, Victoria*, now 16, described the extremely degrading abuse “Miguel” subjected her to when she was 11 and 12 years old.
“What I went through was disgusting. It’s disgusting. That’s unfair. My childhood was stolen from me,” the teenager said through tears.
Blowjobs, cunnilingus, penetration sex: the teenager told the jury several episodes, including one when the defendant celebrated the teenager’s loss of virginity. In particular, Victoria recounted penetrating the anus, an attack that took place in the garage where the accused worked.
“It hurt. I wanted him to stop. He said I was weak. He said, ‘It’s nothing, you’ll get used to it’. [Après], he told me to get on my knees. He ejaculated into my mouth. I felt dirty,” Victoria described.
“No”, “No”, “No”: Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete denied all these alleged attacks. He never attacked or touched the teenager, he repeated to the jury during his interrogation, led by his attorney, Me Marc Labelle. The Chilean spoke Spanish during his testimony, which was translated for the jury.
For much of the alleged events between July 2018 and May 2020, Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete suffered from balanitis – a disease contracted during a trip to Cuba – which he says prevented him from having more than one sexual relationship a month . He underwent surgery in May 2020 to undergo penile circumcision.
In 2020 and 2021, Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete claims he spoke to Victoria very little, roughly anywhere from once a month to once every two months. On February 1, 2021, he was the one who called Victoria. During that 23-minute call, the teen asked her to pay for her plastic surgery.
“She told me about her problems with her boyfriend about wanting to have cosmetic surgery. Her mother said no. She spoke to me about money, whether I could lend her money for cosmetic surgery,” says the accused.
Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete did not take the threat “very seriously”. “It was a youth problem,” he says.
Under cross-examination early in the trial, Victoria denied asking for money or discussing cosmetic surgery with the defendant.
Victoria alleges that she was sexually assaulted twice in the garage where the defendant worked. If he denies having made such gestures, Miguel Antonio Abarzua Poblete agrees that twice already, in 2017 and 2019, he has found himself alone with the teenager in the garage.
Me Hussein Hassan and Me Nadine Haviernick are representing the head of law enforcement and law enforcement, while Me Marc Labelle and Me Claudia Doyle are defending the accused.
* fictional name