The United Kingdom has decided to assume the execution of the sentence against the British citizen Michael Roland Williams, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison for sexually abusing a girl in Lanzarote almost a decade ago, between 2002 and 2004. The victim was between 8 and 9 years old when the events occurred and was the daughter of his then partner. Now, he is scheduled to enter prison in his country this Friday, after having left Spain without complying with the ruling.
The sentence was handed down in July 2018 and became final in January 2020, after the Supreme Court rejected the defendant's appeal. However, when it was to be executed, he could not be located. The Sixth Section of the Provincial Court then issued an international search and arrest warrant against him, and the Police ended up locating him in his country, where he had returned without waiting for the ruling or complying with the sentence.
At the end of last year, his extradition was requested, but he again filed an appeal against this measure, which paralyzed his return to Spain. Now, he will finally enter prison, but in the United Kingdom.
The victim, who was 8 years old when the events occurred and is now 17, hopes that this news will help other possible affected minors, as she believes that she may not have been the only one. “I hope not, because I know how difficult it has been for us. This can destroy a person”, she says, encouraging any victim of this type of crime to report it.
However, after years of fighting to achieve justice, she cannot explain how long it has taken to execute the sentence, nor that the penalty was only 5 years in prison, of which he could serve only half. And it is that in the communication from the Prison and Probation Service of the British Ministry of Justice, in which it is indicated that Michael Roland Williams will enter prison this Friday, it is also pointed out that “it is foreseeable that he will be eligible for parole after serving half of the custodial sentence.”
Undue delays in the investigation
The sentence issued three years ago by the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court considered it proven that Michael Roland Williams sexually abused his partner's minor daughter in Costa Teguise, when she was between eight and nine years old.
Among the proven facts, different episodes are related in which the girl suffered touching and was forced to perform them on him. "There is no glimpse of any reason for resentment or revenge," the court stated, which pointed out that the minor's account "was corroborated by what was dictated in the psychological expert evidence."
“There is no reason to believe that the minor is making up the events she relates”, the ruling added, which imposed on the accused five years in prison and another six years of supervised release, as well as the obligation to compensate the victim with 20,000 euros. To establish the penalty, the Court applied undue delays as a mitigating factor, due to the delay suffered in the investigation of the case. Thus, it reduced the penalty initially requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which was 6 years in prison.
The victim, who continues to struggle to overcome the psychological consequences, wants this story to be made public in case it can prevent other children from going through the same thing again. In addition, next year she plans to start a degree in psychology, to help other minors who have suffered the same thing.
