Domingo Bulacio

Domingo Bulacio is an Argentine man who kept his daughter as a sex slave for 20 years. Starting when she was prepubescent, Bulacio raped his daughter in a one-roomed house. He fathered eight children with her, and continued to abuse her in front of them.

He is also known as Domingo Vernacho and was nicknamed El Monstruo de Villa Balnearia (The Monster of Villa Balnearia) by fellow inmates.

Background
The family lived in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. According to local press, the victim's mother either died or left Bulacio when the girl was very young. Starting when she as either 7 or 11 Buacio told his daughter she would need to take on her mother's role. This was in contrast to the fate of her two siblings, who were sent to stay with relatives in the absence of their mother. According to the victim, this is not unheard of in this family; she claimed "I was not the only one, there are relatives of his who do the same to their sisters and daughters."

Sexual slavery
He raped his daughter for the next 20 years, impregnating her eight times. The family lived in a single room, so as each child was born they would then witness all future assaults on their mother. This continued until, in January 2016, the victim took her five-year-old to a doctor suffering a serious illness. She revealed to doctors in Las Termas de Rio Hondo what was happening, while the child ultimately spent several weeks hospitalised.

DNA testing proved her children were the product of incest. The eight children were taken into care and housed at the Hogar Escuela Eva Peron children’s home, although six were subsequently returned to their mother. Police intending to arrest Bulacio discovered he had fled, and after a 45-day manhunt he was tracked down in the countryside near Loreto. He was charged with sexual offences.

Aftermath
His trial heard from 50 witnesses, including family members, but nothing was heard from the remorseless father. In December 2017, with the victim aged 30, justice was delivered in the shape of a sentence of 12 years and 8 months after Bulacio was convicted of the repeated rapes. He was, at that time, 56 years old.

The court heard evidence the rest of the family supported the abuser, with the victim receiving threats at their hands and one of her children even facing a further sexual attack.