The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands confirms 17 years in prison for a man for sexually assaulting and corrupting a minor

The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has rejected the appeal of a man sentenced to 17 years in prison and the payment of 15,000 euros in compensation for being found guilty of the crimes of sexual assault and corruption of minors for raping a 14-year-old girl, whom he also photographed and recorded.

The TSJC recalls that the conviction is not only based on the victim's statements but also on the "forceful, graphic and repulsive" content of some thirty images and scenes recorded by the accused.

In his defense, the defendant claims that he did not know the girl's real age, an aspect that was dismissed since in the seized messaging the man refers to the girl's age.

The WhatsApp conversations are considered "as revealing as they are useful" given that they contain expressions that would be "acceptable in adults as long as their mental capacities are not diminished but intolerable with a minor."

The man was 35 years old and worked as an ambulance driver when he met the young woman at a campsite in the south of Tenerife organized in October 2021 with co-workers, including the girl's father.

From the day after the camping trip, the accused began to show her images of sadistic sexual practices of domination and submission.

The Provincial Court at the time and the TSJC consider it proven that the defendant forced the victim to create an email and a profile on Instagram since she did not have a cell phone to send him pornographic photographs and encourage encounters to sexually assault her.

The events sometimes occurred at the man's house or when he would pick her up early in the morning at her home and take her to a vacant lot near the institute where she studied.

After two months, the young woman decided to try to end the abusive relationship, which angered the accused, who blackmailed the girl with the content he kept on his phone.

The events were reported by the father and then a psychological report determined that the daughter presented damage compatible with Post-Traumatic and Adaptive Stress Disorder of an anxious type.

The Prosecutor's Office requested a total of 28 years in prison for considering him the perpetrator of a continuing crime of sexual abuse of a minor with degrading or humiliating treatment for carrying out sadomasochistic practices.

He was also charged with corruption, one more of exhibitionism and a payment of 50,000 euros was set for civil liability.