He came to power in "a coup d'état" that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón. In 1985, two years after the return of a representative democratic government, he was prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas for large-scale human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that took place under his rule, including kidnappings or forced disappearance, widespread torture and extrajudicial murder of activists and political opponents as well as their families at secret concentration camps. An estimated 13,000 to 30,000 political dissidents vanished during this period. Videla was also convicted of the theft of many babies born during the captivity of their mothers at the illegal detention centres and passing them on for illegal adoption by associates of the regime. In his defence, Videla maintained the female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to fall pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed. On 2010, Videla took full responsibility for his army's actions during his rule. "I accept the responsibility as the highest military authority during the internal war. My subordinates followed my orders," he told an Argentine court. Videla also sheltered many Nazi fugitives as did Juan Perón before him, as Alfredo Stroessner did in Paraguay and as Hugo Banzer did in Bolivia; he was sometimes known as the "Hitler of the Pampa". He was under house arrest until 2008, when he was sent to a military prison.