Different scandals of sexual abuse involving members of the Catholic clergy have been made public in Costa Rica, as more than ten priests have been formally accused. However, one of the most recent and most dramatic events due to its media exposure occurred in 2019 when judicial accusations against the priests Mauricio Víquez and Manuel Guevara led to the search and seizure of the Episcopal Conference by the Judicial Investigation Department on 7 March 2019. Víquez, who was the Episcopal Conference's spokesman and professor at the University of Costa Rica, was dismissed from the clerical state by the Holy See and the process for removal of his university tenure was started. He fled in January 2019 and was a fugitive overseas reason for which an international arrest warrant was issued against him. He was captured in Mexico in August 2019 and condemned in 2022 to 20 years in prison for rape and abuse of an 11-year-old boy. In the case of Guevara, parish priest of Santo Domingo de Heredia, was arrested by the authorities.
Different scandals of sexual abuse involving members of the Catholic clergy have been made public in Costa Rica, as more than ten priests have been formally accused. However, one of the most recent and most dramatic events due to its media exposure occurred in 2019 when judicial accusations against the priests Mauricio Víquez and Manuel Guevara led to the search and seizure of the Episcopal Conference by the Judicial Investigation Department on 7 March 2019. Víquez, who was the Episcopal Conference's spokesman and professor at the University of Costa Rica, was dismissed from the clerical state by the Holy See and the process for removal of his university tenure was started. He fled in January 2019 and was a fugitive overseas reason for which an international arrest warrant was issued against him He was captured in Mexico in August 2019 and condemned in 2022 to 20 years in prison for rape and abuse of an 11-year-old boy. In the case of Guevara parish priest of Santo Domingo de Heredia, was arrested by the authorities