GUATEMALA CITY, Dec 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Guatemalan authorities said they rescued 160 minors on Friday from a farm occupied by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect under investigation for alleged child sex abuse.

The minors "were allegedly being abused by a member of the Lev Tahor sect," Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez wrote on social media after the raid in Oratorio, southwest of Guatemala City.

The operation involved dozens of police officers as well as psychologists and social workers.

"Zero tolerance for child abuse!" said Jimenez, adding that the raid had the support of the US Department of Homeland Security.

Public prosecutor Dimas Jimenez told a press conference that the raid was carried out due to suspicions of "forced pregnancy, mistreatment of minors and rape."

Members of the Lev Tahor, who settled in Guatemala in 2013, practice an ultra-Orthodox form of Judaism in which women wear black tunics covering them from head to toe.

Officials had previously tried to check the condition of the minors but were blocked from entering the farm by members of the community.

Lev Tahor has accused authorities of religious persecution.

Authorities estimate that the community is made up of roughly 50 families from Guatemala, the United States, Canada and other countries.