The British citizen accused of sexually abusing his partner's minor daughter in Lanzarote, when she was between 8 and 9 years old, has admitted to teaching the girl how a vibrator works, an act he says he feels "regretful" about, although he has denied abusing her. "Everything is false," stated Michael Roland William, who pleaded "not guilty" during the trial held by the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court this Tuesday in Arrecife, which will continue on Thursday.
The defendant, who had a relationship with the minor's mother between December 2012 and May 2014 and lived with both in Costa Teguise, has denied touching or masturbating the minor, as well as asking her to masturbate and grab his penis, as the victim claims. However, he has stated that the girl masturbated "excessively" in front of him when she was in his care, claiming that he was left "in shock" when she did so. Nevertheless, he pointed out that he let her do it because she was not his daughter and because he discussed it with the mother, who told him "it was normal, she had always done it".
Michael Roland William has admitted, however, that on one occasion he taught the minor how a vibrator works, but he did so "because he was fed up". According to the defendant, the girl already had a dildo "that her mother had given her" but it was "broken" and she asked him "continuously" to let her use one of the woman's. "She asked me many times and there came a point when I got fed up and told her to use it, but that she wouldn't like it," said the defendant, who indicated that as it was "different" from the one the minor had, he explained "how to use it".
The defendant has stated that he did not stay present while the girl used it, that he simply "cleaned and put away" the vibrator when she finished, and has said he feels "regretful" for having let her use it. "That is true, the rest is not, I am innocent", Michael Roland William has assured, who has called the minor's account "false". "Everything is false," the defendant has declared.
Accuses the mother of "stealing" the business and acting "out of spite"
"And why do you think the minor says you abused her?" the prosecutor has asked him. "Because her mother has told her to say this," responded the defendant, who has accused the girl's mother of committing "a huge fraud" against him "of about 250,000 euros". According to Michael Roland William, she "stole" a business that he created. "She has used this to get rid of me and commit this fraud", added the defendant, who has assured that he filed a complaint against the mother for these events, although he later stated that he did not know well what state the procedure was in. "I don't know, I think pending trial," he said after being asked about it.
The defendant has stated that the relationship and cohabitation "ended" in May 2014, which was when the girl's mother reported the alleged events, because "the relationship was cursed" and because he "wanted to get back with his ex-partner". A circumstance that, according to his lawyer, could have led the girl's mother to file this complaint "out of spite".
The account of the minor and the "sexual acts" against her
Michael Roland William's statement has however clashed with the girl's account, who testified before the defendant behind a screen, despite the fact that the Arrecife Courts already have a Gesell Room so that children can testify in it and thus guarantee their privacy and avoid visual confrontation with the defendant. In her account, the minor has assured that the defendant committed several "sexual acts" with her.
On one occasion, according to the girl, who is now 13 years old, the man was "lying behind" her on the sofa and asked her "to hold his penis", to which she agreed. In addition, she explained that he let her watch "inappropriate" movies for minors such as 'American Pie, that he showed her "photos of naked people" and that he told her on several occasions that "if she wanted" to masturbate. "Once in front of him, but I told him I didn't want to," said the victim, who however stated that on another occasion she ended up agreeing because "he said it made my mother happy". "And I wanted her to be happy," she added.
The young woman has also recounted another episode in which she assures that the defendant "touched" her while her mother was sleeping and has narrated how Michael Roland William "explained sexual things" to her such as "where the clitoris was". "I undressed and he showed me where it was pointing with his fingers. And he also talked about orgasms," the minor has maintained. "Another day we went to my mother's bedroom, he showed me the vibrators, explained how they worked and asked me to choose one to use on myself. Then he put me in my bedroom, I undressed and he used it on me", the minor has assured.
"I have tried to say what I could remember and tell the truth," said the young woman, who has stated that only "once" she masturbated "on the sofa" in front of the defendant and her mother "because she was little and didn't know what it was", debunking that she had done it "constantly" as the defendant claimed. "But my mother told me that that was private and that I should go to the room," explained the victim, who has also denied that her mother has influenced her to testify against Michael Roland William.
"I absolutely believe my daughter"
The minor's mother has also testified in the trial and has said that she "discovered" that her partner had "abused" her daughter because she told her about it in "April", a few weeks before she reported the events. According to what she has recounted, first the girl told her that he put on "forbidden movies" and then that "he had used a vibrator with her". "Then she told me more things and I filed a second complaint," she added. The woman has said she "absolutely" believes her daughter and has pointed out that the girl told her she had not told her before because she believed that "that made her mother happy".
After learning about the vibrator episode, the mother has stated that she asked the defendant about it and that he told her "that he had given it to her, but did not admit to using it". "He told me he was sorry and that he made a mistake," added the woman, who has denied that her daughter had vibrators.
The girl's mother has pointed out that, after the events, her daughter has needed "14 sessions" of therapy and has pointed out that she was going to take her "to the pediatrician", but that she did not because she thought "that justice would do more". About the accusations by her ex-partner, she has denied that there is a complaint against her for having stolen the company. In fact, she has stated that after the events she returned to live in England, that it was he who "fired" her from it and that "since then" she knows no more.
In the trial, the minor's father has also testified, who was the one who detected "strange behavior" in the girl and warned the mother, as he has explained. "Normally she is a very calm girl and she was hyperactive," the man has specified, who has pointed out that later he "found out" about the alleged sexual abuse by the mother.
Other witnesses
The current wife of the defendant and then ex-partner of Michael Roland has also testified this Tuesday expressing her "trust" in her husband, with whom she has indicated that she "restarted a relationship" when he was still with the minor's mother. The woman has explained that this began "in February" of 2014 and has pointed out that the girl's mother could "notice" it, as she has stated that "in March" she came to Lanzarote, that she went to the house that Michael and the girl's mother shared and that she "was wearing a ring that he had given her" years before.
Finally, a former friend of the minor's mother has testified, who has stated that she became aware of the alleged abuse "in April" of 2014, because she told her. The woman, who has acknowledged that both she and her partner have worked for Michael, has stated that she "broke off" her friendship with the girl's mother "because she realized what she was doing and did not want to be part of this". "It seems that she wanted money from the company and used this," this witness has indicated, stating that she believes the mother is "capable" of it.
After her statement and after two hours of trial, the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court has decided to suspend the hearing and set its continuation for Thursday, although pending determination of whether it will resume in Lanzarote or in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The Prosecutor's Office asks for seven years in prison for the defendant
The Public Prosecutor's Office is asking for seven years in prison for the defendant, six for a continued crime of sexual abuse and one for a crime of exhibitionism. Likewise, it requests that he be prohibited from approaching the minor "at a distance of less than 200 meters, as well as her home, school or any place frequented by her" and communicating with her for a period of 10 years.
In case of being convicted, the Prosecutor's Office also asks for supervised release for the defendant after serving the sentence, stating that this will consist of the prohibition of approaching and communicating with the victim for 10 more years; in the prohibition of any activity that involves having minors in his custody or care for 10 years; and in participation in sexual education programs for pedophiles, also for 10 years.
Similarly, the Public Prosecutor's Office asks that the defendant compensate the legal representatives of the minor "in the amount of 8,000 euros for the moral damages caused" to the girl.
