El País media has investigated the cases of 23 religious who sexually abused their students in marist centers, among others. In total, 18 new victims have been identified, five of them in the Basque Country. The victims have denounced the abuses of Esteban Villalba Astarriaga and the brothers Julián and Francisco in the schools of Erandio, Bilbao, Pamplona and Artziniega, respectively. The attacks occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Marists have once again called for "forgiveness" for the abuses that have occurred for more than three decades.

Three of the victims have been charged with accusations against Professor Esteban Villalba Astarriaga, cited by the National High Court. One of the former students reported sexual abuse at the centre of the Red School Foundation in Erandio and two others at the El Salvador School in Bilbao. However, nine other people have denounced on social media the religious Villalba, alias "el Pelamingas", arrested in Barcelona.

He was a professor and basketball and handball coach at various centers. In addition to the centers of Burgos, Logroño, Laredo and Valladolid, it was in different centers of the Basque Country: Durango, Zalla, Pamplona, Arre and Artziniega. The victim, J.B.R., was a student from the same town in the 1964 academic year in Erandio. He was 11 years old when he suffered the attacks of the religious: "He touched your penis, putting his hand under the shorts." The victim also referred to the events that occurred after the attacks and stressed the responsibility of the school: "I've never talked to anyone, the trauma has been hard. For me, the most shameful thing is that the order did not react at all, that everyone knew their passivity to what happened. Five years later, when I left school, Villakba continued to teach, with her reputation.

Álvaro Puerta was a student of the Bilbaíno Center and suffered religious abuse when he played on the basketball team between 1977 and 1978. According to the press, Villalba “always entered the changing rooms after the training”. Another former student of the center has also denounced the abuses suffered in the late 1960s and early 1970s out of school, in a movie theater: “I was alone in my chair. This rogue appeared and took the opportunity. He held my arm, threw it and put my elbow in my penis, and so he was rubbing and rubbing for a long time, until he got tired or until he spilled it, I don't know."

It was the same student who denounced in the center of Bilbao the aggressions of Brother Francisco: “He called you to his table to read you and in it he shook his hand. At that time, I was five or six years old.” Also at Artziniega’s Juniorate Center, a former student has denounced the attacks perpetrated by Professor Francisco, who has been arrested. It is one of the oldest defendants, as the attacks occurred in 1961. When the victim suffered abuse at the age of 10, she came from Madrid and, upon arriving at the teaching center, the abuses started continuously: “There was a room and some urinated in bed. With that excuse they called us, I was the last and he was waiting for me at the door, taking me to a room called the wardrobe.” The religious Francis has denounced that for a year he “caressed, hugged and touched him”: “They have fucked me. It's as if I'm dirty, only a friend knows, I haven't even told my wife.

They ask for forgiveness

Maristas' network of educational centers has asked victims for "forgiveness" via email. The investigation carried out by El País has begun to investigate the cases, although at the moment no information has been provided on the facts investigated. In this sense, they have pointed out that the data protection law "does not allow it to be done". According to the information released, the only thing known is that the aggressor Enrique Villalba died in January 2021.