Jumping into windows’

Six of the men came from the same colony, Manitoba, in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia.

The men have been charged with child abuse and rape, and forming a criminal gang.

They are now in custody in a prison in the town of Cotoca, in the Santa Cruz region.

Colony elders suspected something was wrong when they wondered why one man was getting up so late in the mornings, and they decided to shadow him, said prosecutor Freddy Perez.

They then handed the case over to the police.

One suspect, who is from another Mennonite colony, is accused of complicity and of selling viagra to the men and narcotic sprays allegedly used on victims while they slept.

Denying the charges against him, the suspect said he was a veterinary surgeon and used the drugs in his work.