La Paz, Bolivia—— A Bolivian judge on Friday issued an arrest warrant for former President Evo Morales after he failed to appear in court over alleged sexual abuse of minors.

Morales, 65, allegedly fathered a child with a teenage girl in 2016, a sexual relationship that constituted statutory rape under Bolivian law.

Judge Nelson Rocabado said after a hearing in the southern district of Tarija, where the victim lives, that "a search and arrest has been ordered for him."

Morales has denied the accusations. He claimed he was a "victim" of a legal battle waged by ally-turned-political rival President Luis Arce and refused to appear in court. Bolivia's prosecutor's office also ordered Morales' detention in December, but Friday's order adds extra weight to growing calls for the former president's arrest.

The populist leader has barricaded himself in the territory of Chapare in central Bolivia, living at the headquarters of a coca growers union and surrounded by as many as three security cordons to avoid arrest.

Outside the courthouse on Friday, a group of women who identified themselves as mothers held a banner that read "Evo Morales abuser, girls not to be touched."

Sandra Gutierrez, the prosecutor handling the case, said they would now investigate whether the president committed a crime by missing court.

The case comes amid a bitter political battle last year between Morales and the country's leader Arce for control of Bolivia's ruling party ahead of August's presidential election. Neither Morales nor Arce immediately commented on Friday's order.

Morales' defense lawyers said the former leader suffered from bronchopneumonia as a reason for his absence, and on Friday they further claimed he suffered from a heart condition. However, the judge rejected these claims, saying the illnesses were treatable.

Morales enjoys strong support from many of Bolivia's indigenous and rural populations and continues to receive support from leaders such as Isidro Huaca, who says the former president is in hiding because he believes I will not get justice under the current government.

"We have to take care of him, we will not allow (his arrest). We will be by his side 24 hours a day," Vaca said.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders and government officials continued to criticize Morales for not attending the hearings.

"If he is innocent, he should undergo a paternity test," said Roberto Rios, Bolivia's deputy public security minister.

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