The Court of Girona has tried this Wednesday a defendant who faces 16 years in prison for raping two boys in Porqueres (Pla de l’Estany) in the early hours of October 16, 2021.
The prosecution and the private accusations maintain that the defendant and the victims met in a bar, who, successively, managed to get them to go outside using an excuse and, once there, sexually assaulted them.
One of the complainants has a 45% disability. At the trial, which was held in the third section, the accused testified at the end and admitted that he had relations with one of them but that it was “completely consensual” sex. According to his version, the other boy made it up and they did not have any intimate contact. The defense asks for acquittal.
The trial began with the victims’ statements, behind closed doors and avoiding visual confrontation with the accused. The prosecution and the private accusations maintain that on the night of October 15, 2021, the three met in a bar in Porqueres. They knew each other by sight and had met in the town.
Around one in the morning, on October 16, the defendant told one of the victims, who has a recognized 45% disability, that he was not feeling well and asked if he could accompany him outside. The boy agreed and, after waiting a while for the accused to tell him, he left the bar.
According to the accusations, once outside, he pulled down his pants and underwear slightly to urinate. It was then that the accused finished pulling down his clothes “with force” and, “without consent on the part of the victim” and “abusing her vulnerability,” he raped him: “It caused the victim a state of shock.”
The prosecutor and the private accusations relate that, after that, they re-entered the bar and that the defendant threatened them, saying that if he told anyone, “he would break their face.”
The same night, around 1:15 a.m., the accused approached another young man who was at the bar. With the same excuse, the accusations indicate, he also managed to get her to accompany him outside the premises. There, he made the boy perform fellatio on him and then raped him: “The victim acceded to his wishes for fear of reprisals.”
Both boys reported the incident a few days later. For one of them, the forensic experts did not locate any injuries, but the other did suffer from an anal fissure and a hematoma that, according to the doctors, could be compatible with having sexual relations via anus. They also appreciated that this young man has presented symptoms compatible with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The accused, at the request of defense lawyer Natàlia Frigola, testified at the end of the trial, after listening to the victims, experts and witnesses. In the courtroom of the third section, the owner of the premises, a girl who worked, and companions of the young people testified. They all agreed that they did not see anything strange.
The defendant admitted that he had sexual relations with one of the young men but claims that it was “completely consensual” sex. According to his story, the two had “crossed glances” for some time when they met on the street and that night he decided to take the step and propose to go outside the premises. The accused assured that he asked the complainant if he was convinced that he wanted to have relations and that he told him yes: “I have no need to force anyone.”
In relation to the other young man, he stated that he did not know that he had a disability and flatly denied having had any intimate contact.
The accused faces 16 years in prison and a fine of 600 euros for two crimes of sexual abuse with penetration, one committed against a particularly vulnerable victim, and a minor crime of threats. In terms of civil liability, the prosecutor’s office wants him to compensate the victims with 16,000 euros.
The defense, headed by the lawyer Natàlia Frigola, asks for acquittal. The trial, which was held in the third section of the Girona Court, was heard for sentencing.
