The Audiencia de Las Palmas has postponed this Thursday the trial against a man and a woman accused of having recruited a vulnerable minor from a shelter to exploit her in prostitution in Playa del Inglés (Gran Canaria) after the defendant renounced his lawyer.
The president of the court, Judge José Luis Goizueta, has given the accused, G.V., 48 hours to find a new lawyer, and if he does not, he has been informed that one will be assigned to him ex officio, while also setting the trial again for January 22.
The lawyer for both defendants, who face a **sentence of up to 11 and a half years in prison**, has told journalists that his client informed him of his decision before the start of the oral hearing due to a "conflict of interest," as he also represents the accused R.C.R.A.According to the Public Prosecutor's indictment, the accused contacted the minor and **offered to help her upon learning** that she lacked family support and was running away from the care center where she lived.
The defendant introduced the minor to the accused, who ran a club where prostitution was practiced in Playa del Inglés, and he, between March 18 and 19, 2024, instructed the young woman on the schedule she should follow, the area where she should be, and the clients with whom she should have sex, as well as that she had to hand over the money she received for those services, the Prosecutor's Office states in its brief.
Furthermore, on at least one occasion, the accused, who knew that she was a minor in a vulnerable situation, had sex with her in exchange for paying her 50 euros.
According to the prosecution, the defendant had an agreement with the accused to provide girls for prostitution at his club, **with both of them profiting**.
The two defendants are in provisional detention for this case, G.V., since last August 9, when he was arrested in Germany after a European arrest warrant was issued, while R.C.R.A. has remained in prison since last January 16.
The Prosecutor's Office **is seeking a sentence of 11 years and six months in prison** for the defendant, accused of two counts of prostitution and corruption of minors, and requests the closure of his club.
In addition, it requests that the accused **not be able to approach or communicate with the minor for 23 years**
For these acts, the defendant faces a sentence of seven years and six months in prison, and the Public Prosecutor also requests that she be prohibited from communicating with and approaching the victim for a period of eight years, in addition to both compensating the minor with the payment of 30,000 euros for the moral damages suffered.