The Supreme Court (TS) has confirmed the sentence of 32 years in prison for a septuagenarian who, for seven years, sexually abused “constantly and repeatedly” his three minor granddaughters, to whom he also exhibited pornographic material and offered money in exchange for touches. The magistrates have considered that in this case “it is not appropriate” to apply the so-called ‘law of only yes is yes’ because the rule is not more beneficial for the convicted person, but rather, on the contrary, it would increase his sentence.
As they have explained, after the reform of the Penal Code, the crimes that are attributed to the man are punished with sentences of between 13 years and 9 months in prison to 15 years. In other words, if the law were to be applied, the sentence would have to be increased because the rule that was imposed contemplated a range with a maximum sentence of 12 years. The sentence states that the man abused the minors from 2010-2011 to 2016-2017, when they went to live -together with his father- at the house of their paternal grandparents after the separation of their parents.
One of the girls began to suffer abuse when she was 7 years old. The defendant groped her granddaughter “taking advantage of the fact that they were alone” in the house “either because the grandmother was absent, or because she was taking a nap.”
“These actions on the girl were carried out mainly and in a first phase on the sofa in the living room, while they were covered with a blanket, telling her that they were going to play ‘husband and wife,'” the sentence states.
Over time, however, the abuses “intensified both qualitatively and quantitatively”: they reached “three or four times a week” and “were not limited to the sofa, but extended to the rooms of the house.” In addition to touching her, she raped her.
This situation lasted until the granddaughter -who was 12 or 13 years old- refused to participate in the activities her grandfather proposed. The man, however, “continued to insist on it” and in 2020, “a few days before the complaint” and when the minor was already 16 years old, he offered her “money in exchange for being touched or allowed to be touched.”
In the resolution, for which Judge Ãngel Hurtado has been a speaker, it is also stated that he abused his other two granddaughters. The touching of the smallest of the three began when she was 5 years old and “were increasing” until she was 8 or 9 years old. The abuse of the elderly “was limited to one occasion.” She “repeatedly” showed the three of them pornographic material (magazines and movies) in the kiosk she ran.
After years of abuse, the granddaughters “suffer from post-traumatic symptoms”, “distrust”, “anxiety” and “sadness”, “concentration problems and sleep disturbances”.
The Provincial Court of Barcelona sentenced him to 32 years in prison: 24 years in prison for two continuous crimes of sexual abuse with penetration and prevalence; 3 years and 6 months for a crime of sexual abuse and prevalence; 2 years for two continuous crimes of displaying pornographic material to minors; and 2 and a half years for a crime of corruption of minors.
The man, dissatisfied with the decision, took his case before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, which also dismissed his arguments, for which reason he has finally appealed to the Supreme Court. In his appeal, the septuagenarian has alleged that his right to the presumption of innocence was violated, but the magistrates have considered that he “in reality” has questioned the assessment of the evidence made by the court.
In 20 pages, the court has defended that the testimony of the victims “has had sufficient corroborating elements, including the defendant’s own testimony, which recognized some of the touching of his granddaughters.” Thus, the sentence has been confirmed.
