Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Abusing His Stepsister Since She Was 8 Years Old

The First Section of the Provincial Court has sentenced a man to six years in prison for the continuous sexual abuse of his stepsister since she was eight years old. According to the ruling, which can be appealed before the High Court of Justice of Navarra, the defendant, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian national, is prohibited from communicating with or approaching the minor within 300 meters for ten years. Additionally, he must comply with a supervised release measure, to be executed after the prison sentence, for another ten years. As civil liability, he will compensate her with 30,000 euros for moral damage.

The accused, who arrived in Spain in 2016, began living with his mother, her husband, and their two daughters from that marriage. This cohabitation, which took place in various homes, ended at an unspecified date in 2022 when the accused moved out to live with his girlfriend.

Taking advantage of being left in charge of his eight-year-old stepsister, as proven in the judicial resolution, the defendant asked the minor to perform sexual acts in exchange for letting her use his mobile phone to play video games. These acts continued until the convicted man moved out.

As a result of the abuse, the victim suffers from psychopathological and depressive symptoms, as well as intense feelings of guilt. Since January 2024, she has been receiving psychological support from the Victim Assistance Section of the Navarra Crime Service.

During the trial, held on April 15, the prosecution requested a 15-year prison sentence for a continuous crime of sexual assault on a minor under 16, while the private prosecution sought ten years. The defense, on the other hand, called for acquittal.

In the ruling, the First Section of the Court classifies the acts as constituting a continuous crime of sexual abuse of a minor under 16. Among the evidence, the victim's statement stands out, which was pre-constituted and reproduced in full during the oral hearing.

For the court, according to the "unanimous feeling" of its three members, the minor "told the truth, in a not overly emotional statement, appearing shy and embarrassed, with attitudes and nuances typical of her age, showing difficulty and reluctance to specify past events that displeased her. Despite such lack of detail, whether due to embarrassment or the desire to forget, it is certain that she was clear in temporally and spatially situating the events."

In this regard, the Court emphasizes that it perceives "no hint of invention, exaggeration, or fabrication," but rather a "firm, compact, seamless" statement of the experience suffered, which she first recounted at just eight years old to a friend, more generally, later to two other friends, then to her parents and sister, and finally to the police, in the pre-constituted evidence in court, and finally, to forensic psychologists.

According to the judges, what the victim declared is surrounded by peripheral corroborations, through objective evidence, both testimonial, documentary, and psychological expert.

Regarding the legal classification of the acts, "in strict application of the principle of in dubio pro reo," the Court dismisses the existence of the crime of sexual assault as it does not consider oral penetration proven.

The judges do find the continuous crime of sexual abuse proven, which carries a penalty of two to six years in prison. The Court, considering "the temporal extension of the proven facts, their initiation in the victim's childhood when she was just eight years old, and the countless attacks on her sexual integrity," deems a six-year sentence "appropriate."