Two Argentine judges are under fire after cutting the sentence of a paedophile in half on the grounds that his six-year-old victim was gay.

Describing the now 11-year-old as having a “homosexual orientation”, appeal court judges Horacio Piombo and Benjamín Sal Llargués decided to cut the prison sentence for Mario Tolosa from six years to three, as they felt his victim was “accustomed to sexual behaviour” following years of abuse by his father.

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Calls to impeachment the judges have spread across the country after the verdict came to light last week.

Justice Piombo defended the decision on Monday, saying that before Mr Tolosa molested the boy, the child had already suffered “the initiation by his father into the worst of worlds, leading him to depravation.”

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Adding that Mr Tolosa’s actions could not be considered “gravely outrageous” in legal terms because his victim was already “making a precocious choice” about his sexuality.

The ruling dates from last year but become public last week as prosecutors at Buenos Aires’ Supreme Court decided to appeal the verdict.

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Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said the ruling was "an embarrassment".

"It's repugnant to say that the presumed sexual orientation of an abused six-year-old boy is a reason to reduce the sentence of the abuser," he added.

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