The Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas has sentenced J.M, a native and resident of Arrecife, to 17 years in prison for continuous sexual assault and habitual domestic violence against his daughter, from 2003, when the minor was 14 years old, until 2007.
In its ruling, the Court imposes on this resident of Arrecife a prohibition of approaching within 500 meters and communicating with the victim by any means or procedure within a period of 20 years. He must also compensate the victim with an amount of 18,000 euros.
The Court considers as proven facts that the defendant, with no prior criminal record, and from an indefinite date in 2003, made "touches on the chest and vagina of his daughter, who was then 14 years old." These events, according to the ruling, were repeated on different occasions, "when the defendant was alone with his daughter in the family home, the defendant proceeded to undress her and lie her on the bed, touching her chest and forcing her to masturbate him until he ejaculated." "If the young woman refused, the defendant grabbed her hands tightly, directing them to his penis, telling her that what he intended was to teach her and that she should not tell anyone."
On two of these occasions, the ruling explains, "the defendant tried to penetrate the victim vaginally with his penis, grabbing her tightly by the wrists and throwing her onto the bed, failing to achieve his purpose as she managed to break free from her father," although he did "manage to insert his fingers into his daughter's vagina."
This situation, according to the Court, lasted until 2007, when the minor left the family home and sought refuge at her maternal grandmother's house. However, during those same years, the minor was also subjected to contemptuous behavior by her father, who used to utter expressions such as "whore," "son of a bitch," "you are useless," and "you are good for nothing," "making her and her younger brother kneel facing the wall, hitting them or leaving the young woman without food."
Testimonies
Thus, the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas accepts the testimony of the minor, who "maintains and persists in the same version of the events" since her first statement. It takes into account the "verisimilitude" of her account and other evidentiary elements, such as the abandonments of the family home, recognized by the mother, the grandmother, and the defendant himself.
In addition, the ruling also values the statement of the boyfriend, to whom the minor tells what happened after his insistence "upon hearing her cry every night, observing that she was always sad, and having difficulties engaging in sexual relations with her."
Likewise, the testimonies of the maternal grandmother, who learns of the events through the minor's boyfriend, and of a teacher at the center where she was studying administration, who had notes about the minor in which she said: "high levels of insecurity and extraordinary shyness, trembles when speaking," noting below: "does this student suffer abuse from her parents?" were important.
In addition, the report of the expert psychologists maintains that the minor presents a picture of anxiety and depression, and they consider her account to be credible.
Both the defendant and his wife wanted to attribute the cause of the complaint to the maternal grandmother herself, whom the victim's own mother accused of "manipulating" the young woman against her husband, since she "had never accepted her marriage to the defendant, constantly interfering in the education of her children." However, the court considers that, regardless of the existing bad relations, "nothing influences the content of the complaint," since "the grandmother found out after a long time."
Likewise, the ruling shows that there were "certain contradictions" in the statements of the defendant and his wife.
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