Guatemala Probes Child Abuse Claims Against Jewish Sect

Guatemalan authorities are investigating allegations of child abuse within a Jewish sect that also faces accusations of forced marriages and adolescent pregnancies, an official said Wednesday.

Officials tried to check the condition of the minors on Friday with a court order, but members of the Lev Tahor community restricted access to their farm in Oratorio, southwest of Guatemala City, authorities said.

"We're very concerned about the situation within the community," Lucrecia Prera, a lawyer representing the state in child and adolescent issues, told AFP.

"There are reports that there are (forced) marriages, that there are pregnant girls, that there is abuse within the community," she said.

One foreign teenager allegedly forced to marry at the age of 13 asked for help this year to return home, Prera said.

Members of the Lev Tahor sect, who settled in Guatemala in 2013, practice an ultra-Orthodox form of Judaism in which women wear black tunics covering them from head to toe.

Following a court hearing on Friday, Lev Tahor accused authorities on social media of carrying out "a reprehensible campaign of persecution against our community, motivated solely by religious intolerance and discrimination."

It also accused Israel of involvement in "instigating these actions."

Authorities estimate that around 100 minors live in the community, which is made up of roughly 50 families from Guatemala, the United States, Canada and other countries.

Although a judge was allowed to enter the premises on Friday and observe 29 children, "we cannot be certain whether the allegations (of abuse) are true or false, since we have not been allowed to carry out our work properly," Prera said.

She denied the investigation amounted to persecution.

"It's very important that people know that it's not political persecution, it's not religious persecution. What we are seeking is to ensure the comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents within the community," Prera said.