SANTO DOMINGO.- The Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed a formal appeal against the ruling of a Puerto Plata court which, although it declared Wander Samuel Franco Aybar criminally responsible for sexual and psychological abuse against a teenager in a new trial, at the same time granted him a judicial pardon that does not correspond to the harm caused to the victim and society.
The appeal was filed partially against Criminal Judgment No. 272-02-2026-SSEN-00149, issued by the Ad Hoc Collegiate Court of the Judicial District of Puerto Plata, composed of judges José Ramón Núñez, who presided, Jenny Amarilis Martínez, and Praire Ruiz, appointed to hear the new trial ordered last December by the Court of Appeal of the Judicial Department of Puerto Plata.
The sentence condemns the teenager’s mother to serve 10 years in prison at the Rafey Women’s Correction and Rehabilitation Center (CCR) in Santiago for commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering, a decision that was not appealed.
The appeal was filed by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and the Puerto Plata Prosecutor’s Office, represented by magistrates Ramona Nova Cabrera, Kelmi Ricardo Duncan Torres, Claudio Alberto Cordero Jiménez, José Martínez Montán, and Olga Diná, who maintain that the challenged decision incurs an incorrect application of the law, violates fundamental principles of the criminal process, and is incompatible with the gravity of the facts established by the court itself.
“Judicial decisions must maintain consistency with the proven facts, the established legal qualification, and the applicable legal framework. The fight against the exploitation of minors and money laundering requires responses compatible with the principles of legality and justice,” indicated the representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
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In its appeal, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requests the Court of Appeal to revoke the decision that exempted Wander Franco from punishment, after the ruling established his criminal liability for violating the provisions of article 396, letters b and c, of the Code for the Protection and Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents (Law 136-03), regarding sexual abuse and psychological abuse against a minor.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the application of judicial pardon in favor of Wander Samuel Franco Aybar constitutes an erroneous and extensive interpretation of a legal figure conceived by the legislator for exceptional circumstances that do not apply in the present case.
The appealing prosecutors argue that the judgment itself established the criminal liability of the defendant for sexual abuse and psychological abuse to the detriment of an adolescent, so the total exemption from punishment is incompatible with the nature, gravity, and social significance of the facts judged.
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In the opinion of the prosecuting body, the decision departs from the legal requirements that regulate judicial pardon, weakens the purposes of prevention and sanction of criminal law, and sends a message contrary to the reinforced protection that the Dominican legal system recognizes for children and adolescents.
The process originated from an investigation that led to charges related to sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and the exploitation of a minor, as well as operations related to money laundering.
With the filing of this appeal, the Public Prosecutor’s Office seeks for the Court of Appeal to comprehensively examine the challenged aspects and adopt a decision in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and the effective protection of the victims’ fundamental rights.
