Updated

A judge in Argentina has resigned amid sharp criticism for reducing the sentence of a convicted child abuser because the 6-year-old victim supposedly showed signs of being gay.

The Criminal Appeals Court of Buenos Aires confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that judge Horacio Piombo stepped down. No reason was given.

In a 2014 ruling that recently came to light, Piombo and fellow Judge Benjamin Sal Llargues cut the sentence of sports club executive Mario Tolosa from six years to 38 months.

They ruled that his acts should not be considered "gravely outrageous" in legal terms because the boy already "was making a precocious choice" of his sexuality, an apparent reference to homosexuality.

The decision was roundly criticized, and many people in Argentina called for the judges to resign.