United States, immigrant children separated by parents are sexually abused

Three children from El Salvador were sexually abused by workers in Arizona shelters after being separated from their families on the US border, a government official said.

They're sexual offenses, sexual abuses, that's what's happening.“, Salvador Deputy Foreign Relations Minister Liduvina Magari announced on Thursday. She said all three children were between the ages of 12 and 17.

Children are in good physical health, but “The psychological and emotional impact is forever and we're following that situation.“, she said.

The government is providing lawyers for affected families.

Nearly 500 children from a number of countries remain in shelters separated from their families, despite a judicial order requiring children to be reunited with their parents.

Proublica reported in July that in the past five years, police responded to at least 125 calls claiming sexual violations in 70 out of the 100 shelters of young immigrants led by the US Department of Health and Human Services's Office of Refugees. Experts believe the number is an incorrect representation of a larger problem because children are hesitant or too afraid to report abuse.

Magari showed no shelter where the abuse of sausagen children took place, nor did she offer any more details. But a 32-year-old employee in a privately run shelter in Phoenix has been charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old immigrant in July. The child's location could not immediately be determined.