The Public Prosecutor's Office has reiterated its request for more than 11 and 7 years in prison for a man and a woman accused of inciting a minor in a vulnerable and disabled situation to prostitute herself in a club in the tourist area of Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria, this Thursday.
Day on which, before the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, the oral hearing of the trial against both defendants was held, a German resident on the island who eventually left and, later arrested in his country, has been in preventive detention for more than a year, and a resident of the Gran Canarian municipality of Ingenio, also imprisoned since a little later.
The reason, according to the prosecution, is that the woman, who lived in the El Carrizal neighborhood, the same one where the victim's mother resides, contacted the latter in 2024, who was then a 17-year-old girl who had fled a shelter and was a habitual crack user, encouraging her to work as a prostitute in the club run by the other defendant.
These facts have been confirmed by the young woman, who stated that after going to the establishment, Club Lux in the Cita Shopping Center, advertised as a swingers' club, she had to allow herself to be sexually taken advantage of by several men and some women over several nights in exchange for receiving 50 euros a day.
Money that, moreover, she only received if, once the workday was over, she agreed to sleep with, finally, the owner of the establishment himself.
Because -she said- "if I didn't sleep with him after having slept with the boys, he wouldn't pay me."
And she explained that, although when she initially went to the club she was unaware it was for prostitution, she agreed to do it because "she had nowhere to turn," as her relationship with her mother was "shitty," she had run away from the shelter and was sleeping on the street, using drugs "every day" and without knowing where to get money.
All of this with the added inconvenience of having been diagnosed with various personality disorders and a developmental delay that diminish her cognitive and communication abilities with others, and for which proceedings have even been initiated to declare her disabled, at the request of her mother and the shelter she fled from.
Something that they have assured was evident just by looking at the minor, according to several Civil Guard agents who testified at the trial, especially two specialized in dealing with women and minors who are victims of sexual and gender-based violence, who also underscored the obviousness of the young woman's underage status.
One of them even pointed out that, once the dialogue with the girl started, he thought she was even younger than her age, "about 13 or 14 years old."
They also corroborated that her minority age was evident, a man and a woman, employees of other businesses near Lux, who went to him one night and found her there, surprised by itEspecially the woman, who reported that she found her on a stool wearing only a thong and with her chest uncovered and looking frightened, so she ended up taking her out of there and taking her in that night at her houseFaced with these accounts, the neighbor who suggested she go to the club maintained that she barely knew her and sent her there because the owner was looking for a waitress, not prostitutes, and that she herself had gone to see if she was interested in the job but turned it down because "she doesn't like working at night."And he denied providing drugs to the girl or having her at his home at times, despite a search of the property where documents linking them were found, along with various substances, such as crack, hashish, and cocaine, which he is accused of selling from a window, according to the account of several Civil Guards"All lies," he stated emphatically, on one of the occasions he was asked about it. He has likewise attributed the accusations against him to the girl's inventions, the manager of Lux, who has assured that "there was never prostitution" there and that his business was a swingers' club from which he made profits by charging for entry and for drinks served at the bar.Concluding: "they tell me I've done things I haven't done."From that premise, their defense attorney and that of the other accused have requested the acquittal and immediate release of their clients, with the latter arguing that "there is nothing, nothing to prove that these crimes have occurred."Despite this, the representative of the Public Prosecutor's Office has reiterated her opinion that "there is sufficient evidence to request a conviction," imposing 7 years and 6 months in prison on both defendants for a crime related to prostitution and child corruption, as well as another 4 years in prison for the man for an additional offense. This was stated at the end of a trial that, held in the City of Justice of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has been concluded and is awaiting sentencing.