Buenos Aires, December 20, 2025 - Total News Agency - TNA - While awaiting his formal interrogation (indagatoria), Justice has authorized the businessman Marcelo Porcel to leave the country. He is accused of alleged sexual abuse of minors, despite the plaintiffs' request for his detention and an explicit ban on leaving Argentina.
The case involving businessman Marcelo Porcel, son of one of the founders of Argencard, is based on allegations of sexual abuse and corruption of minors, targeting classmates of his own son. The case is being handled by the National Justice of the City of Buenos Aires.
The judicial officials in charge of the investigation are: Judge: Carlos Bruniard, head of the National Criminal and Correctional Court No. 50. Prosecutor: Pablo Turano, of the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 1.
The request for a preventive prison order was filed on November 27 by the lawyer for the accusing families, Pablo Hawlena Gianotti, who confirmed that the request included both the interrogation and the detention of the accused.
However, following a motion from the defense, Justice allowed Porcel to travel to Punta del Este, Uruguay, between December 17 and January 5, on the grounds of attending a wedding.
The Public Prosecutor's Office responded only on December 3 and decided to impose only precautionary measures, without proceeding to deprive him of his liberty.
Among the restrictions initially imposed was a ban on leaving the country.
While the defense of the families evaluates new measures to speed up the judicial process, the decision to allow the accused to leave the country has once again put the focus on the Justice system's response times and its institutional handling of child abuse complaints.
For now, the interrogation of Marcelo Porcel remains pending, and the case is in a preliminary stage, marked by the incorporation of new complaints and growing social pressure for the case to move forward.
The decision caused strong discontent in the plaintiffs' side, which considers that the severity of the facts reported warranted a more severe measure.
According to the lawyer for the families, the reason given by the court to postpone the interrogation was the recent inclusion of two new complaints in the file.
Due to the seriousness of the facts, the judge must take the interrogation, insisted Hawlena Gianotti, at the same time as she pointed out that the case already has a significant amount of evidence that would allow it to proceed without further delays.
The file originated from complaints that shocked the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo and the educational environment, as they involved a businessman linked to the school environment of his children.
The judiciary maintained that, before calling Porcel to testify, it was necessary to avoid "duplication of procedural acts" and the consequent jurisdictional waste, so it resolved to return the file to the prosecutor's office to rule on the new facts reported.
From the plaintiffs' side, that posture is questioned and it is emphasized that each victim represents a different fact that needs to be addressed individually.
For the plaintiffs, this scheme corresponded to a systematic mechanism aimed at gaining the trust of minors and normalizing situations of abuse.
According to the testimonies incorporated under the Cámara Gesell modality, the accounts of the alleged victims were consistent, without fabrications and with a repeated pattern of behavior.
As stated in the case file, the encounters began with apparently informal invitations to the accused's home or office, organized through common friends or WhatsApp groups with code names. These meetings were presented as celebrations or recreational gatherings. Once there, Porcel would allegedly supply alcoholic beverages to the minors—vodka, tequila, or whiskey mixed with soda—and encourage their consumption through games and challenges. The accounts describe a progressive escalation of behaviors, which included financial incentives to perform dares, exhibitions of their bodies, running half-naked or completely naked, and dancing under the effects of alcohol.
