The Sixth Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas has sentenced a civil guard for a crime of sexual abuse, committed on the road from Playa Blanca to Yaiza two years ago. The penalty is a fine of 21 months at a rate of 10 euros per day, which totals 6,300 euros. The civil guard stopped a vehicle and asked the co-driver to accompany him to his private car where he "touched her breast and tried to kiss her". The woman left the agent's vehicle "immediately".
The ruling establishes that at approximately 6:45 a.m. on February 24, 2011, this civil guard proceeded to stop a vehicle with flashing lights, in which two women were traveling, on the road from Playa Blanca to Yaiza. The agent had already finished his working day and was driving his private car, but was still wearing the uniform as a member of the Armed Institute.
After requesting the driver to show various documents, the accused "used his status as an agent of the Civil Guard" and requested the co-driver to accompany him inside his own vehicle to perform a breathalyzer test. Once seated in the car, "the accused, with the intention of satisfying his sexual desires, touched her breast and tried to kiss her."
The convicted man stated that he had stopped this vehicle because he was a "Civil Guard 24 hours a day" and observed "a strange maneuver", which was not recognized by the occupants of the vehicle but was recognized by a taxi driver. The Provincial Court points out that, in any case, the agent did not report this detention to the Civil Guard post or request the presence of members of the Traffic detachment to carry out alcohol detection tests.
"He just wanted to flirt"
The civil guard also stated that "he started talking a lot with the co-driver, which led to a friendly relationship" and even ended up admitting that "he just wanted to flirt." Thus, he indicated that he asked her to get out of the car and give him her phone number.
In addition, the accused insisted that since "many cars were passing by and he was wearing a uniform", he preferred her to give him the phone number inside his private vehicle. In this sense, he assured that "of course he did not touch her breast", but that "he only gave her a kiss on the cheek, saying goodbye in a friendly way", after she gave him her phone.
In contrast to this version, the woman assured that "at no time" did a friendly relationship develop, but that she was required to take the breathalyzer test, which seemed strange to her since she was the co-driver and not the driver. She gave him the phone number, according to her statement, because the accused "told her that it was easy to get because there were few cars like hers in Playa Honda".
"A pig, who had touched her breast"
For her part, the driver of the vehicle also denied that this friendly relationship had developed and assured that the accused behaved "at all times as a Civil Guard". When her friend was in the agent's car, the driver received a call from her boyfriend and told him what was happening. At that moment, she found it strange that her companion, who was the co-driver, was required to take the breathalyzer test. That is why she approached the vehicle, from which "her friend was coming out nervous". She told her that the civil guard was "a pig, who had touched her breast".
The Provincial Court of Las Palmas considers that in this case there is "subjective incredibility", since "no evidence has been presented to determine what spurious motives have motivated" the complainant to accuse this civil guard. Furthermore, it also insists that this woman "has maintained the same version" throughout the process.
Aggravating factor for being a civil guard
In the ruling, the Provincial Court also insists that in this case the accused's actions include "the aggravating circumstance of taking advantage" of the status of agent of the Civil Guard, since both the complainant and the witness stated that "at all times he addressed them as an agent and not as a friend, even though he did not do so in an authoritarian tone, but in a firm tone and wearing a uniform". Hence, the co-driver complied with his requests to get out of the car and get into the accused's car "precisely because of the complainant's status".
The civil guard is also prohibited from approaching the complainant at a distance of less than 500 meters, as well as approaching her home or workplace and communicating with her for a period of two years. An appeal for cassation may be filed against the ruling within five days.
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