The Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has confirmed in all its terms the judgment of the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, which in July 2023 imposed penalties ranging from 42 to 36 years on four men declared guilty of the multiple rape of a tourist in the south of the island of Gran Canaria in February 2021.
The TSJC has rejected the appeals of the accused and has validated the judgment of the court of first instance, considering that the decision of the Chamber complied with the law and did not incur in error in the assessment of the evidence or violate the right to the presumption of innocence, as alleged by the defenses.
The Appeals Chamber confirms as true the proven facts reported by the Court. According to these, on the night of February 26, 2021, when the victim was walking through a park in the town of Puerto Rico (Mogán, Las Palmas), one of the defendants grabbed her by one of her wrists and forced her to go against her will to the place where the other three defendants were, "where, previously concerted, with evident libidinous intent and, driven by the intention to attack the sexual freedom of the victim, one by one they took turns penetrating her, vaginally and anally, even doing so up to twice," one of them stated.
The TSJC confirms two sentences of 12 years in prison for rape for the accused who outraged the victim on two occasions, and also imposes on him three other sentences as the perpetrator of three other crimes of sexual assault with penetration as an accomplice, bringing his total sentence to 42 years. However, the judgment recalls that he could not serve more than 20 years, according to the law.
For the other three defendants, the Court confirms sentences that total 36 years in prison for each of them, twelve years for the rape and 24 years for four crimes of cooperation in sexual assault with penetration. Similarly, in these cases, it is established that the effective duration of the sentences may not exceed 20 years.
In the reasoning of the ruling, the TSJC weighs the "full reliability" of the complainant's testimony, and emphasizes that it rules out "any attempt to exaggerate" what she suffered. It points out that in one of the telephones seized from the accused, the Civil Guard found a Whatsapp message in which he gloated about having been "able to nab an English woman, the four of us."
In addition to the criminal convictions, the now confirmed judgment imposes on the accused an order of protection from the victim for a time not less than 18 years and establishes various compensations. The resolution is subject to appeal before the Supreme Court.
