The Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has confirmed the sentence that condemned a man to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting his nephew and abusing his little sister, when both children were under eight years old.
The first instance sentence was handed down in November of last year and the accused appealed the ruling, which has now been fully confirmed by the TSJC.
The events occurred between 2005 and 2009, when the defendant and the victims lived in the same house in Arrecife. "On one occasion, when he was alone in a room with his nephew, who was less than eight years old, acting with the intention of satisfying his sexual desires, he grabbed his head tightly and inserted his penis into his mouth, while he struggled to free himself, which he did not achieve," the ruling considers proven.
Regarding the girl, it indicates that in the same period and also taking advantage of moments when she was alone with him, "on at least four occasions" he "sat her on top of him" and "kissed her on the mouth and touched the genital area over her clothes".
The first crime was classified as sexual assault, imposing a sentence of 12 years in prison, and the second as sexual abuse with the aggravating circumstance of kinship, with a sentence of three years in prison.
In addition, the ruling that has now been ratified imposes the payment of compensation of 4,000 euros to each of the victims, as well as restraining orders for four years.
He stated that he "did not remember the events", but that "it could have happened"
In his appeal, the defendant pointed out, among other things, that there was not enough evidence for his conviction, which was based on the statement of the two victims. In this regard, the TSJC underlines the "veracity" that was appreciated in those testimonies, but above all that "the convicted person himself does not deny the facts with the security, energy and forcefulness that these very serious accusations deserve". In fact, he recalls that in the trial he admitted "the possibility that they occurred".
"The accused states that he does not remember that the events occurred since at that time he consumed drugs and had been diagnosed with an illness. He consumed cocaine and hashish and had started at the age of adolescence, at the time when he lived with his nephew and sister," the ruling states, adding that "he even stated that he does not think the children are lying, since he got along well with them, so he believes that it could have happened, but he was not very aware at that time".
In another of his allegations, his defense raised the doubt of whether the accused was a minor when the events occurred, thus pointing to a possible "non-imputability".
In this regard, the TSJC recognizes that there is "certain indeterminacy in the chronological element", but concludes that they occurred when the accused had already turned 18, which occurred in May 2005.
In the case of the child, he did not start living with him until 2007. Regarding his sister, the ruling indicates that the abuses began in 2005, but that they continued at least until 2007, since the nephew also testified to having witnessed the "touching" of the girl.
