A Barcelona court has acquitted five men accused of raping a year-old girl of the most serious charges of sexual aggression and convicted them instead of sexual abuse on the grounds that the victim was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The five men were jailed for between 10 and 12 years on the charge of continuous sexual abuse. A sixth man was acquitted on the grounds that he had not actively participated in the incident, in the town of Manresa, in north-east Spain. The prosecution had asked for the men to be convicted of sexual aggression, which carries a 15 to year sentence, stating that the victim had been unable to defend herself.
The judges rejected a claim by the accused that they were unaware the girl was under 16 and so below the age of consent. The Pamplona case led to an outcry and triggered protests across Spain after the five were initially cleared of gang rape but convicted of the lesser charge of sexual abuse. Given that, she added, the judges could have come to the conclusion that sexual aggression had been committed and ruled accordingly.
Giving evidence in July, the Manresa victim said one of the accused was a friend with whom she had had sexual relations a week earlier and whom she trusted. She said he was the one who led her to the shack where he raped her and then invited his friends to do likewise, telling them they each had 15 minutes.
The attack took place at a party in an abandoned factory in October Topics Spain. Reuse this content. Most popular.
