The defense of a young man accused of having consensual sexual relations with his girlfriend, when she was 14 years old and he was 22, has appealed this Monday in San Sebastián to the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ clause of the Penal Code to request his acquittal.
Although the age of consent to have sexual relations in our country is set at 16 years, this clause, included in article 183 quater of the Criminal Code, provides for a possible exemption from criminal liability in cases in which, below the age of this limit, the relationships have been consensual and have occurred between people of a similar age and with a similar degree of physical or psychological maturity.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution, which the victim exercises, have claimed twelve years in prison for the defendant for a crime of sexual assault with penetration of a minor under 16 years of age.
The events prosecuted this Monday in the Third Section of the Gipuzkoa Court occurred in the context of a sentimental relationship that the victim and the defendant had between March and October 2021. According to the defendant, during this time he and the minor they had consensual intercourse on two occasions, the first of them, in August 2021, without penetration because she felt “uncomfortable” and they stopped to talk about it, and the second, a month later, “with a condom”, on the floor of Pasaia (Gipuzkoa) where he lived.
The defendant, who explained that they both knew each other because they were part of a group of friends of very different ages whose members were between 14 and 31 years old, stated that they were both “in love” and that their love relationship finally broke due to ” jealousy” of the minor, who “got overwhelmed” because she thought he was dating another girl.
The girl’s statement took place behind closed doors, so the journalists have not been able to witness the testimony, which was recorded during the investigation phase and was screened this Monday in the room to prevent the teenager from having to intervene again at trial.
However, the mother of the adolescent has revealed that she found out about the facts because she noticed her daughter “very bad” and “sad”, without wanting to study or go to school, until finally “she began to cry”. and he told her what had happened, handed over his mobile phone and she was able to see the messages that had been exchanged with the defendant, after which she filed a complaint.
The parent explained that, as a result of these events, her daughter required psychological support because she felt “overwhelmed” when he wanted to have sex and “did not know how to end the relationship”, after which her performance in class dropped , in addition to spending the day “crying” and inadvertently “going out.”
At the hearing, a member of the psychosocial team has also declared, who has clarified that the psychological affectation of the minor was due to the fact that she felt “emotionally hurt” by the situation but “not because she had a bad feeling” regarding sexual relations which, on the other hand, admitted that they had been consented to.
This professional has also said that, in her opinion, the sentimental relationship that both had was “among equals, for them”, since the boy’s degree of maturity was “below the average” for his age, while hers was in the middle of his.
He has also specified that both kept their sentimental bond a secret from the rest of their group, not so much “because of the age difference” as because he had a relationship with another person, which was what “annoyed” and “affected” the victim, who ultimately “decided to end the relationship.” The trial has been seen for sentencing.
