A 70-year-old Polish tourist was sentenced last January to one year in prison for sexually assaulting a hotel employee in Lanzarote.
The young woman, 24 years old, and resident of Lanzarote has denounced the "unfair" situation she has been living since she was sexually assaulted in the hotel on January 1. She was an employee in the hotel complex when the events occurred. The victim was working as a chambermaid, at which time the assault took place when she was about to clean the room of one of the clients.
The man was inside the room and forcibly approached the girl. He began to touch her chest and buttocks and moan, despite the victim's continuous refusal. "I asked him to let me go," the young woman told La Voz. The woman managed to break free from the aggressor, leave the room in a state of shock, and with a panic attack and try to seek help in the hotel hallway. "I met a co-worker, who helped me tell the directors," she revealed. In addition, the aggressor tried to coerce the victim by offering her a wad of bills from inside the room.
The moments after the assault were very distressing for the girl. She had to go unaccompanied and with a panic attack to report what happened to the Civil Guard. "I went alone to report it and I even got lost along the way with the tremendous panic attack I had," she recalled. She makes it clear that it was two men, who she met along the way, who encouraged her to make it public. "I sat on the sidewalk and two men accompanied me and stayed with me until the agents arrived," she added.
Finally, the aggressor was arrested by the Civil Guard in the vicinity of the hotel hours later. The next day, he was released on bail without bail for an alleged crime against sexual freedom, his passport was withdrawn and he was prohibited from leaving the national territory. He was also imposed an urgent precautionary measure of not approaching the home or workplace of the young woman, nor approaching within a radius of 50 meters or communicating with her by any means.
The oral trial held on January 9 in the Criminal Court No. 3 of Arrecife, after confessing what happened, the judge sentenced the tourist to one year in prison and to compensate the victim with 500 euros for the moral damages caused, the prohibition of approaching or communicating with the victim for two years and also, to pay the costs of the judicial process. In addition, he was granted the benefit of the suspension of the prison sentence, for which he will only enter prison if he commits another crime within two years.
According to the ruling in the sentence, at that time, the aggressor could return to his country and the passport that had been seized was returned to him. The girl calls the sentence imposed on the tourist "unfair." "He has been given a year, but he is not going to serve it," she pointed out. The tourist has already "left for his country," she said. According to the victim's words, the man had already planned to return to Poland. "His lawyer told me that the trial had to be done quickly so that he could leave the country," she stressed.
As of today, the young woman is outraged. "Justice has not been done at all, he has gotten away with it," she revealed.
"Justice has not been done at all, he has gotten away with it to his country"
"Unfair" treatment from the hotel management
The young woman wanted to emphasize that the hotel management "did not behave" up to the circumstances. According to what she told La Voz, "the assistant manager made me feel responsible" for what happened. "She told me it was normal in my job, why was I getting like that, and that I had to be prepared to face those situations," the young woman assured. A response that made her doubt the seriousness of the act. "I didn't understand if what had happened was right or wrong," she added. She remembers one of the sub-governors of the hotel complex, who encouraged her to report it to the Civil Guard and also testified later as a witness in the trial. "He supported me a lot at that time," the young woman revealed. They advised me to report it quickly to "be able to expel the tourist from the hotel."
After what happened, the hotel did not expel the client at any time, the victim commented. The workers were afraid of meeting him. "They wrote to me and told me that they were afraid to enter the room, he was still there," she pointed out.
The company decided to dismiss the worker on February 13. The young woman was on medical leave and her contract was already ending. "They had promised me in December that they were going to renew my contract immediately, but it wasn't like that," she criticized. A situation that has led the young woman to suffer psychological after-effects. "I can't sleep and I have nightmares," she revealed to the newspaper. Making a normal life has become difficult for her. "I went out on the street and I had panic attacks, I thought he was going to come and get me," she confessed. With two small children in her care, the girl has recognized that she has experienced rejection towards the children after the "traumatic" experience. "I can hardly even touch my children, their smell reminds me of the aggressor's perfume."
"I can hardly even touch my children, their smell reminds me of the aggressor's perfume."
The victim has also stated to the newspaper that she feels "abandoned" after the aggression. "I need psychological assistance, but I can't afford a private psychologist, I have already spent 800 euros," she revealed with sadness. She emphasizes that the Public Health Service gives her an appointment "once a month" and that the Mutual Insurance Company is not responsible for her mental health. "The Mutual Insurance Company does not want to take charge, they do not consider it a work accident," she pointed out. Now she is waiting for the Social Security to attend to the request required to "pay for the psychology sessions," a process that could take "a year," she added.
In addition, she has stated that the money that the aggressor had to pay her has not been received either. "They imposed that he had to pay me 500 euros, but I have not received any money." She concluded by making it clear that the hotel "could pay for her psychological assistance and ask for a psychologist to be assigned to her," something that "has not happened."
Finally, the assaulted woman could take legal action against the hotel establishment for the various actions that have been carried out throughout the process.