A jury in Argentina's Córdoba province sentenced the mother of eight-year-old Aralí Vivas, her stepfather and a family friend to life in prison in the case involving the girl's sexual abuse and death. Aralí was killed in November 2024 in the town of Brinkmann.
The popular jury delivered the verdict at the Criminal and Correctional Chamber in San Francisco. The sentence matched the request made by prosecutor Consuelo Aliaga Díaz. LA NACION reported that stepfather Matías Ezequiel Simeone and Cristian Hernán Varela faced aggravated homicide and sexual-abuse charges. The mother, Milagros Rauch, was charged as a necessary participant. Varela also faced an arson charge over the room where the girl was found.
All three defendants were in custody during the trial. Rauch's lawyers sought an acquittal, saying she did not know about the crime. Varela's attorneys cited a DNA test that, they said, found no trace of him on the child's body. Simeone's defense challenged the evidence admitted in the case. The jury rejected the defense arguments and sentenced all three to life imprisonment.
Investigators determined that the girl died of asphyxiation. Prosecutors alleged that the fire in the room was set to conceal the crime. On the day of the fire, Simeone left the house with two of Aralí's siblings, saying he would take them to a square to play. He returned after neighbors shouted that a fire had started. Only the room where the child was found had burned. The doors were unlocked, but investigators found no signs that the girl had tried to escape. Simeone was on parole after a prior conviction for gender violence. Rauch had travelled to Morteros with her baby that day.
Relatives called for justice outside the courthouse and asked that the local child and family agency, Senaf, also be investigated. LA NACION reported that the agency had previously ordered Rauch and Simeone to receive addiction treatment. After the course was deemed complete, children removed from their care were returned to them. Aralí was living with her biological father at the time of her death.
Prosecutor Oscar Gieco had described the children's home as extremely unsafe, citing violence, neglect and visitors who used drugs there. Senaf made no public comment on the case. Reports at the time said only that the agency had ordered an internal inquiry.