En 2013
LOS ANGELES (AP) — El locutor Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo, que conducía el popular programa de radio en español en Estados Unidos “Piolín por la mañana”, fue señalado de haber acosado sexualmente a uno de los integrantes de su equipo de producción, antes de que Univision cancelara abruptamente su programa matutino, informó el martes el abogado del presunto ofendido.
El guionista, actor y productor Alberto “Beto” Cortez afirma que Sotelo lo acosó sexualmente de forma activa y sin acuerdo mutuo, llegando incluso a tocarlo, según una carta fechada el 16 de abril y dirigida a ejecutivos de Univision, que fue presentada por el abogado Robert R. Clayton, según reportó el diario Los Angeles Times el lunes por la noche.
La misiva también acusaba a Sotelo de ordenar a los integrantes de su equipo de producción que falsificaran cartas a legisladores para una importante campaña de apoyo a la reforma migratoria, y de acumular “exigencias irreales e ilegales” para Cortez como trabajar horas extra sin recesos o una compensación adicional.
“También he hablado con los ex empleados del programa que atestiguaron gran parte del acoso descrito aquí”, escribió Clayton en la carta obtenida por Los Angeles Times. “Ellos también han sido objeto de la conducta ilegal de Sotelo o han escuchado de sus amenazas, y las represalias que ha tomado con los empleados que han hablado en su contra”.
El abogado de Sotelo, Jeffrey Spitz, dijo que los señalamientos son falsos y que sólo responden a intereses monetarios.
“Las acusaciones del empleado por acoso sexual y falsificación de cartas sobre la inmigración son una ficción total y buscan obtener un acuerdo financiero” dijo Spitz en un comunicado. John C. Taylor, uno de los socios legales de Clayton dijo que el despacho no haría declaraciones.
Tras una década al aire, Univision canceló abruptamente el programa del locutor nacido en México la semana pasada, reemplazándolo con una barra musical. Sotelo era famoso por impulsar a que los simpatizantes de los inmigrantes tomaran las calles para protestar en 2006 por una iniciativa de ley contra la inmigración ilegal.
No se revelaron los motivos para la cancelación del programa. El martes la vocera de Univision Mónica Talán rechazó hacer declaraciones sobre la acusación de Cortés.
Sotelo, quien recientemente fue elegido para ser incorporado al Salón de la Fama del Radio, tenía chistes subidos de tono y bromas en su programa, pero también recibía a políticos, incluyendo al presidente Barack Obama, para que abordaran temas importantes, como la reforma migratoria.
En 2007 viajó a Washington para entregar a los legisladores un millón de cartas en apoyo a la reforma migratoria. En su programa solía hablar sobre su experiencia como un migrante cruzando la frontera de forma ilegal cuando era adolescente y de cómo obtuvo los papeles para tener la ciudadanía estadounidense.
Sotelo, cuyo apodo es la versión en inglés del personaje de dibujos animados Tweety Bird, también prestó su voz para personajes en películas como “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”.
In 2009
A 14-year-old Greenfield girl allegedly placed into an arranged marriage by her father has been further victimized by a nationally known disc jockey who mocked her on live radio, the father’s attorney said Friday.
Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo reportedly tricked the girl’s mother into putting her on the phone by posing as the father’s attorney, then made jokes about the case and ran a laugh track as he interviewed her on Spanish-language Univision Radio.
Defense attorney Miguel Hernandez said he is “outraged” by the incident and has contacted a civil attorney and the county District Attorney’s Office, and he might call the Federal Communications Commission to pursue actions against Sotelo and Univision, which syndicates “Piolin por la Manana.”
The network says the show is the most listened to Spanish-language morning show in history.
“This is a very delicate situation,” Hernandez said Friday. “This girl is a victim and for this guy to do this is just outrageous.”
They “just preyed on a little girl,” said his son, co-counsel J. Hernandez.
Officials from Univision Radio, which owns or operates 70 stations nationwide including ones in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, San Jose and Chicago, had not responded to requests for comment by Friday evening.
The girl is the daughter of Marcelino DeJesus Martinez, 36, who is charged with providing his daughter for lewd acts and with aiding and abetting statutory rape, both felonies, as well as cruelty to a child, a misdemeanor.
According to Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier, Martinez agreed to let 18-year-old neighbor Margarito Galindo marry his daughter in exchange for $16,000, 150 cases of beer, 150 cases of soda and Gatorade, and several cases of wine and meat. The food and beverages were to be served at a wedding party.
Describing the case as a “clash of cultures,” Grebmeier said such arranged marriages are commonplace among the indigenous Triqui people of Oaxaca, Mexico, of which Martinez is a member.
That feeling was echoed this week in a statement issued by the Indigenous Front of Binational Organizations and the Binational Center for the Development of Indigenous Oaxacans.
The groups said it is common for Triqui girls as young as 13 and 14 years old to marry in arranged unions in which dowries are provided by the groom to the bride’s family. It is inaccurate to describe the arrangement as a sale, they said.
“It is known that this is not exclusively an indigenous practice; it has been a custom of European and Asian cultures in the past and continues to be practiced without them being accused of ‘selling’ their daughters,” the organizations stated.
But J. Hernandez said Friday the case had nothing to do with an arranged marriage. The charges, he said, were the result of a language-related misunderstanding and his client is innocent of wrongdoing.
Hernandez declined to discuss the details of his investigation, but said he was aware of Greenfield police reports saying a “marriage broker” had provided investigators with paperwork that documented the negotiations between Martinez and Galindo.
“I’m aware of all that,” he said. “It doesn’t change any of my statements or position. It has no bearing on our position.”
The case originally came to the attention of Greenfield police when Martinez reported his daughter as a runaway. Police later concluded that he was trying to get his daughter back after Galindo failed to pay the dowry.
Prosecutor Cristina Johnson said Galindo has been cited to appear Feb. 25 on a misdemeanor charge of statutory rape. Because he is more than three years older than the victim, she said, she could elevate the charge to a felony.
Arraignment for Martinez was delayed again Friday while the court searches for a qualified Triqui interpreter. J. Hernandez said one interpreter was rejected because she is Martinez’s sister-in-law.
The court has contacted two other Triqui interpreters. Johnson told Judge Adrienne Grover that if those translators do not respond by next week, she would agree to have Martinez’s relative translate for the purposes of arraignment only. That hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Court interpreter Antonia Aragon interpreted for Martinez in Spanish on Friday. She spoke with Martinez before the hearing and said he understood some Spanish, but did not understand when she tried to explain the court process to him.