A 17-year-old minor, who has been identified as the alleged leader of a satanic sect in the Ngäbe Buglé region,is being provisionally detained.

At  televised control hearing for the alleged abuse and kidnapping of minors in the region was held in Chiriquí, on Saturday, August 22.

At the hearing, the teenager was charged with the alleged commission of the crimes of child abuse in the form of rape, of a minor under 10 years of age, reported Jhony Torres Villarreal, prosecutor for Adolescents in  Chiriquí.

The young man had been arrested on Thursday, August 20, in Agua Salud de Guayabito.

According to preliminary investigations, this minor along with other adults - already detained - are part of a sect in the Llano Amador community, in the Ñürüm district.

On Friday, August 14, the authorities were alerted to what was happening in the  area and on Sunday two men and a woman were apprehended and three minors were rescued.

On Tuesday, August 18, a Court of Guarantees in the province of Chiriquí ordered the indictment of charges against Valerio and Nicolás Santos for alleged child abuse, as primary accomplices and rape, as perpetrators.

Victoria Santos is charged  with  of mistreatment of the minor and for the crime of rape as a secondary accomplice.

Victoria, Valerio and Nicolás Santos, along with the minor, were accused of the abuse and mistreatment of several residents of the region.