The testimonies of singer Johnatan Hernández Velasco’s complainants show a pattern of manipulation that varies little from case to case. They report that the leader of the Bogota band Electric Mistakes chose only “women” for his group, allegedly because he didn’t get along with men. He also spoke to them from the start about his various psychological problems: depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and Savant Sage Syndrome. When they were already in the gang, the complainants allege that he drugged them with drugs that imparted an overly sweet taste to the beer or banana cake he offered them. When they woke up, sometimes naked, he would tell them they had spoken to him. According to the women, the confusion was mixed with guilt at feeling uncomfortable around someone who had told them about mental health issues. “If I judge him, I’m not inclusive,” one of them thought.
The musician had a defined modus operandi, as evidenced by the complaint received by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in December 2021 and the allegation made by this body in court at the end of July 2023. The women selected used to have their own mental health issues, which is why he felt empathy with Johnatan and his songs that dealt with issues such as anxiety or depression. Sometimes they were surprised by his inappropriate comments: for example, the complaints state that he kept telling them that his penis was very large and that this caused him problems in their sexual relationships. They also say that his partner Laura Perilla reminded them from time to time that the singer was autistic, “a special person”. Meanwhile, they became engrossed in the Electric Mistakes rehearsals and gradually distanced themselves from the rest of the people in their intimate circles. Johnatan and Laura claimed they are “family” despite previously speaking badly of all former members.
Three women interviewed by this newspaper say that the musician managed to inspire trust. She loved animals, defended her rights on social networks and also campaigned for feminism. “He asked us to say ‘all’ and not ‘all’ because he was in a minority. “One thought he was very distant,” says one of the complainants via video call. He didn’t seem to have any limitations in sharing his difficulties, both with his followers on social media and with the women he knew. “Hi, I’m Johnatan and I have depression,” was the first thing he said upon introducing himself, according to another of the women via video call. “I want someone with me to hug me” or “You know my condition very well, you know I have no friends” are some of the phrases she remembers when he said them to her . “He was always talking about his illness and I was sorry.”
“You had a sugar crash”
Natalia Gordillo, member of the band between March and July 2021, comments that she doesn’t understand how she could have stayed close to Johnatan and Laura for so many months. “I have a very strong personality, I leave if I don’t like something. But here the submission to the people who scared me was total,” he affirms. He has no memory of entire days spent at the singer’s house; All she knows is that in the video calls she made, her relatives saw her as odd and lost, while the couple dismissed her concerns. “You had a drop of sugar, so you don’t remember,” he says of what they told him.
Ana Lucía Jaramillo, professor and director of the Department of Psychology at the Universidad de Los Andes, notes on the phone that almost everyone “gets very scared” when someone mentions a mental diagnosis. “It creates a lot of fear that anything I do could make it very bad. “I don’t want to feel responsible for that,” he explains, explaining a line of argument that he otherwise always observes. “I don’t want to end up being responsible for you killing yourself,” many think.
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The teacher points out that it is difficult to confront and denounce the perpetrator. In the confusion and bewilderment caused by the drugs, the question of who the perpetrator was does not arise at first. “99% of the time, the question is, ‘What did I do to provoke this?’ says Jaramillo. According to the expert, knowing that she is a victim of sexual abuse is a source of great pain and shame. “How did I fall for this?” is a common question. It doesn’t help that some trust circles tend to condemn and hold the victim accountable for repeated reports of violent crime. “Why don’t you go outside? [de esa situación]? You don’t take responsibility, you asked for it,” some people tend to think.
Hover
In the loneliness, every woman was confused about what had happened to her. Some report taking pictures of them waking up in the night, realizing he was accessing them, and losing consciousness again. Others only recalled waking up next to him and feeling a strange sensation in their bodies: they say he thanked them at times for allegedly showing him they “love” him while he was at insisted on other occasions that nothing had happened. However, everyone agrees that they lost consciousness after consuming any drink or food that he or Laura offered them. They felt something strange had happened to them and wanted to leave, but weren’t entirely sure of the details or how to react.
Things started to change in mid-2021 when several former band members started telling each other how they were feeling and connecting the dots. Flotador was born, a WhatsApp group that today has 15 participants: 13 female musicians who went through Electric Mistakes between 2019 and 2021 and two women who had similar experiences with Johnatan outside the band. The original intention was to prepare the joint complaint that five of them filed with the prosecutor in December 2021. But Flotador also became a support network, helping them deal with the psychological and psychiatric fallout each individual was experiencing. “We drowned in the same pool. Until we meet and get the car,” one of them emphasizes, pointing out the reason for the group’s name.
15 women coordinated the complaints to the prosecutor’s office and on social networks via a WhatsApp group.Courtesy
The “We Are Not Bugs” public complaints campaign began on April 1, 2022 with a statement by Natalia on Instagram. Fed up with waiting for the case to move forward in the prosecutor’s office, the members of Flotador decided to use public opinion to pressure them. Testimonies, both video and written, signed or anonymous, spread so much that they became overwhelming: Natalia recalls that many women wrote to her to tell of similar experiences and that even men approached her and told her that they too had been drugged. The initiative was a success, one of the women, who prefers to keep her identity a secret, tells this newspaper. “It was impressive to see how the prosecutor’s office started to contact us,” he says.
Johnatan and Laura responded on April 2, the day after the first complaint. In two separate statements, they agreed to point out to Natalia that they allegedly “took the facts out of context” and labeled her as someone who had various mental health issues. Johnatan also denied the allegations of sexual abuse and tried to justify the discomfort he used to cause: “I have publicly exposed my psychiatric illnesses to promote mental health care. The syndrome I suffer from puts me on the autism spectrum. (…) This is due to my lack of social skills towards men. While I can understand people feeling overwhelmed when I’m looking for musicians or trying to make friends, there’s no reason to think I’ve hurt women.
We Are No Mistakes stopped releasing testimonies in July as prosecutors appeared to be moving and the public exposure was causing severe emotional exhaustion. But shortly thereafter, the court case stalled. The messages that the members of Flotador received were limited to uncomfortable messages from Johnatan, who wanted to rebuild his bond with several of them. “You looked very handsome that day with your golden hair,” she told a publisher who had published a book, she recalls. The women informed the group of every contact and suspicious account that began following them on social media. They kept blocking it, but it never completely went away.
Everything changed in mid-June when the sister of one of the applicants found Johnatan on a street in northern Bogotá. He rebuked it, recorded it and posted the video on social media. “The motherfucker who rapes women acts like nothing happened. See it here, the prosecutor who doesn’t give a shit (…) raped more than ten people and is walking down the street like nothing happened,” she tells him while he ignores her. The news went viral, while some users linked to the prosecutor’s Twitter account — or X — to respond. Seven days later, Johnatan was arrested in a rural area on the outskirts of Bogotá.
Johnatan Hernández strolling through northern Bogotá.Courtesy
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The singer was charged on July 28 with carnal intercourse or sexual activity with people who are unable to resist, as well as sexual harassment. “You supposedly popularized your character [de salud mental] “To make them feel sorry for their lack of social connections,” said the prosecutor in the case, who also referred to the alleged use of drugs to intoxicate members of Electric Mistakes and the psychological damage it caused. “Several women’s lives were destroyed. And the most dangerous thing is that his way of catching her can continue,” he said, explaining the application for preventive detention as the trial progressed.
Johnatan’s lawyer replied that all the applicants were of legal age, had attended the parties voluntarily, had brought alcohol and some were taking medication for psychiatric disorders. “Some of these ladies had consensual relationships with Johnatan,” he said. However, the judge found that the women were unable to give their consent. “Several of the citizens became victims of various episodes. Apparently they were in a state of constant change of conscience and thus change of will,” he explained before ordering the defendant’s preventive detention.
The judge complained to the prosecution that she had taken so much time with the investigation that she felt it should be pursued further. “These behaviors being studied are extremely serious. “I regret that the public prosecutor’s office took so long to develop investigative measures,” he emphasized. According to officials, the work so far is “in the early stages”: progress has not been as great as they would have hoped after a year and a half, and other people who claim to have suffered similar circumstances have not yet been involved been. “Without the exposure of the case on social media, this investigation might not have happened,” he added, before concluding the preliminary hearing, the first step in a process that may take months or even years for Johnatan to come to a conclusion bring to justice. to court and determine if guilty.
One of the remaining unknowns is the role of Laura Perilla, who did not respond to this newspaper’s request for an interview. The judge indicated that there was reason to believe the defendant’s partner was “an accomplice,” noting that she noted that prosecutors had failed to include her in the indictment. For their part, the members of Flotador point out that they are afraid of Laura: according to them, she always talked about how she would kill a former bassist with whom Johnatan had cheated on her. “It was absurd. “Laura’s anger was never aimed at him, but at the women,” says one of the witnesses. “From my point of view, Laura has developed from the first victim to the perpetrator. She was the one who covered everything up for him.
Special constitutional protection
In the preliminary hearing of the Johnathan Hernández trial, the judge emphasized the importance of assessing the case from a gender perspective. “In the Colombian state, women are considered to have special constitutional protections and the historical violence to which women have been victims is taken into account. “This violence represents the greatest form of discrimination that has historically been made invisible in our patriarchal society,” he said, referring to Articles 13 and 43 of the Constitution.
“One cannot ignore a reality that is historical and should be made visible,” the judge told defense counsel, who had pointed out alleged unfair and biased treatment of men. “In no case can it be assumed that the assessment of this case from a gender perspective violates the rights of the defendant. “It aims to uphold the rights of people who enjoy special constitutional protections,” he concluded.
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