Guatemalan authorities reported that a Salvadoran member of the extremist Jewish sect Lev Tahor in Guatemala was captured on December 31 in El Salvador by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

The detainee was identified as Jonathan Emmanuel Cardona Castillo and is accused in Guatemala of the crimes of rape, child abuse and forced pregnancy, according to information provided by the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday.

On December 20, Guatemalan security forces rescued 160 minors in the department (province) of Santa Rosa (southeast), who are believed to have been victims of sexual abuse by this ultra-orthodox sect.