The court convicted the defendants Touching a minor Under the table on the terrace of a bar in Girona’s Independencia Square on the afternoon of January 16, 2022. Court imposes One year in prison and two years of supervised release As a perpetrator of sexual assault and applies the “yes is yes” law because it is more convenient for the defendant and carries a lower penalty. The ruling stated that the victim was 14 years old and a friend of hers They were sitting on the balcony When the accused approached them and began to reprimand them: “After he bent down and put himself under the table, suddenly knowing that he was assaulting the sexual freedom of a minor, he touched the vaginal area over the clothes.”
The prosecution requested 3 years in prison for the crime of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16, and the defense requested acquittal. At trial, the accused denied touching, and furthermore confirmed it He did not know that the girl was a minor.
The ruling of the Fourth Division of the Court of Girona, spoken by Judge Daniel Varona Gómez, concludes that at approximately five o’clock in the afternoon of January 16, 2022, the victim, who was then 14 years old, and a friend of hers They were sitting on the balcony of the bar From Independence Square. The defendant, about whom they knew nothing, approached their table and first said a few words to the girls in Arabic.
The court declares it proven that the accused then bent over It was placed under the table. In the courtroom, both the victim and her friend confirmed that she did this under the pretext of picking up a cigarette or a bag of dirt. He added: “He took advantage of this moment to suddenly realize that the minor was under 16 years old, with the intention of attacking her sexual freedom.” Touching her intimate area “Over the clothes,” the sentence says.
At that moment, the minor and her friend walked away, attracting the attention of the waitress and a passing couple, who ended up calling the emergency number 112. According to trial witnesses, The accused left Independence Square. The girls were able to provide a description of the suspect, and a police patrol found him Arrest at Carrer de la Corte Real Shortly after receiving the notice.
In sentencing the accused, the court noted that the victim’s statements were “particularly convincing” and that they were, in addition, supported by “sufficient elements of proof”, such as the statements of her friend – who directly witnessed the touching -, the testimony of the waitress and the truth. That the Mossos arrested him A short time later, “thanks to indications related to his clothing, physical characteristics, and the description of the scar appearing on his face” provided by witnesses, the minor recognized him during the identification round.
On the contrary, the Court points out that there is A “false” statement by the defendant It initially “appeared” at the trial that He wanted to deny his presence at the scene But he eventually said he “believes the girls are between 20 and 21 years old.” This could have resulted in a lesser sentence for the accused.
“We cannot accept this allegation,” concludes Section IV, which, although noting that it is true that the convict and the victim “did not know each other at all,” the physical appearance of the victim at trial, two years after the fact, is unlikely to be addressed. One can imagine that he was of mature age. He also notes that this happened at five in the afternoon, not in the morning, and that the minors were there Have coffee on the balcony: “These factual circumstances of the event, coupled with the appearance of the victim, allow us, without violating the presumption of innocence, to consider that the accused should have known that he was under 16 years of age.”
The Public Prosecution requested that he be convicted of the crime of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16, with the Penal Code being applied before the “Yes, Only Yes” law. The court decided that the new legislation was “more favorable” to the accused, as it expected the sentence to be reduced by applying a mitigating subtype of being a “fleeting touch” which the victim herself described as “three seconds”.
Thus, the court condemns him as the author of A The crime of sexual assault To a minor under the age of 16 from a minor entity carries a penalty of one year in prison and two years of supervised release. The convict may not approach within 200 meters or communicate with the victim for 3 years and will be disqualified Working with minors During 4. With regard to civil liability, he must compensate the minor 1.500 euros.
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