A Bolivian judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of former president Evo Morales after he failed to appear in court over a case alleging that he sexually abused a minor. Morales, 65, is alleged to have had a child with a teenage girl in 2016 – a sexual relationship that would have constituted statutory rape under Bolivian law.

A judge in Bolivia ordered the arrest of the country’s former President Evo Morales over his alleged abuse of a teenage girl while he was in office. On Friday, the judge in the southern city of Tarija called for Morales’ arrest after Bolivia’s first Indigenous president skipped a hearing on his pre-trial detention for a second time.

A Bolivian judge on Friday ordered the arrest of the country's former leader Evo Morales over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl while in office, with whom prosecutors say he fathered a child.