Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice reported that Judge Carol M. Ortiz Rivera of the Guayama Court of First Instance sentenced Luis Omar Rivera Pérez to 52 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting and abusing a four-year-old child at a day care center in Guayama. He received 50 years for the crimes of sexual assault and child abuse, plus two additional years for the revocation of a probation term he was serving when the events occurred.
The court also ordered $5,000 in restitution for the benefit of the victim. At trial, the Guayama prosecutor’s office, represented by prosecutor Paloma I.R. Crespo Santiago, presented ten witnesses. The victim was not among them; statements he made outside the courtroom were admitted as evidence.
The events took place in May 2024 at the NISI day care center. Rivera Pérez performed child-care tasks there even though he was not listed in the facility’s employee registry and was on probation. Following the investigation’s findings, the Department of the Family suspended the center’s license, and it later ceased operations.
The investigation was led by agent Héctor Ferrer Olivencia of the Puerto Rico Police’s Sexual Crimes Division in the Guayama area.