Honduras awaits verdict in disappearance case that exposed sex trafficking ring

MEXICO CITY -- Relatives, lawyers and women's rights groups in Honduras demanded justice Monday as they awaited a verdict in a sex-trafficking case surrounding the 2022 disappearance of Angie Peña, which they say exposed the impunity and corruption that allow widespread gender violence in the Central American country.Four men are on trial for crimes related to Peña’s disappearance. A Honduran court is expected to announce a verdict Monday.Two U.S. citizens, Harold Green and William James Murdock, face human trafficking charges, while another U.S. citizen, Gary Lee Johnston, and Honduran Gustavo Trejo are accused of criminal association.The case has implicated public officials and exposed a criminal ring known as “Delta Teams” that has drawn comparison to the Jeffrey Epstein network in a country with high rates of gender violence and low conviction rates for related crimes. Lawyers representing the family have questioned the lack of transparency of the investigation and trial, which was not open to the press or general public. Peña's family said it has received death threats, and the August killing of Dereck McNeil, a key protected witness, further exposed the dangers of seeking jus...