A federal police officer was also sentenced. The Buenos Aires Federal Oral Court (TOF) No. 1 sentenced Walter Rivero to 6 years and 6 months in prison for sexually exploiting a woman and facilitating the prostitution of 15 others between March 2011 and September 2012, in three bars located in the San Nicolás neighborhood. In the same trial, a Federal Police (PFA) officer from the 3rd Precinct, Cristián José Bernal, was also sentenced to 3 years in prison for being found guilty of passive bribery in a combined ideal offense with the promotion and facilitation of third-party prostitution, as a secondary participant. The Justice was able to corroborate that, along with another officer from the same precinct—who was also accused but died during the process—they received bribes to protect the operation of these establishments. From the Fiscales portal, it was detailed that the oral trial—which resulted from two unified cases—began in December 2023 before the tribunal composed of judges José Antonio Michilini, Ricardo Basílico, and Adrián Grünberg. Buenos Aires, December 17 (NA) – The owner of three bars located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of San Nicolás was convicted of the sexual trafficking of a woman and the promotion of the prostitution of 15 others. It was in one of these establishments that the trafficking victim was found, and when she testified, she detailed the events that took place in the now-convicted Walter Rivero's venues and his father Hugo Rivero—a co-defendant who has since passed away. From 2008, according to the victim's account, Rivero recruited her through a false job offer, and together with his father, they forced her, through physical violence and threats, to have sexual relations in the Classic Irish Pub, Keops, and Kir Royal venues. It was learned that, on at least two occasions, the victim attempted to escape the place, but due to the great fear she felt from the threatening calls Rivero made, and the power both defendants held by having ties to law enforcement, she returned to the venues. Throughout the hearings, 105 witnesses testified, and the grounds for the ruling will be known on March 18, 2026. Two other defendants who reached the trial, who were managers of the bars, were acquitted at the request of the prosecutors, according to Noticias Argentinas news agency. The court “ordered to defer the treatment of the request for reparations for damages, both for the daughter of the exploitation complainant—who died in 2011—and for the victims found during the raids carried out in the city's venues as part of the investigation.” It was also ordered that the Directorate General for Guidance, Accompaniment, and Protection for Victims (DOVIC) contact the women who were present during the raids on the venues. Background At that time, the Federal Unit for Assistance in Kidnappings, Extortions, and Human Trafficking (UFASE)—now the Prosecutor's Office for Trafficking and Exploitation of People (PROTEX)—conducted a preliminary investigation in various venues in the city of Buenos Aires linked to possible human trafficking cases. With the acquisition of valuable information, in March 2011, more than a hundred nightclubs operating under the appearance of legal businesses were raided.
