In 2004, Etchecolatz was one of the first two officials convicted and sentenced for baby snatching: taking a child from "disappeared" parents, passing it on for adoption by officials of the regime, and hiding the child's true identity. He and Jorge Berges were each sentenced to seven years. He was also deemed responsible of the "Night of the Pencils", when 10 high-school students were abducted by security forces in the city of La Plata near Buenos Aires in September 1976. Six of the 10 were forcibly disappeared, with their fate remaining unknown. The four survivors said they were tortured.