The Provincial Court of Almería has sentenced the former Vox spokesperson in the Huércal de Almería City Council (Almería) Arturo Ramón Torres Escamilla to nine years in prison for two crimes of sexual assault of a minor, one of them continuously, to whom He also provided cannabis.
The sentence, to which Europa Press has had access and against which an appeal is possible, imposes on the accused four years in prison for a crime of continuous sexual assault and five more for a crime of sexual assault, since it absolves him of a crime against public health requested by the private prosecution.
The former councilor served as spokesperson for his group between 2019 and 2021 until he resigned for “personal reasons” just a month and a half after one of the sexual assaults for which he was convicted took place and a complaint was filed for the facts. before the authorities.
Specifically, the Second Section court presided over by Judge Soledad Jiménez de Cisneros considers it proven that the accused took the minor to his Nacimiento farmhouse by car during the day of September 15, 2021 so that, during the journey , he took turns with her on several cannabis joints that he offered her.
Already at the farmhouse, the minor, feeling “dizzy” from the consumption of the aforementioned substance, lay down on the sofa. It was then that the accused, “taking advantage of the dazed state in which” the teenager was, kissed her and touched her chest under her clothes.
The court points out based on the evidence conducted during the trial, which was held behind closed doors, that the accused went so far as to undress the minor and sexually assault her without her “giving her consent or being able to offer any resistance, due to the state of drowsiness in which he was.
Prior to this event, the judicial resolution explains that the minor was “repeatedly” attacked by the accused since the beginning of 2018, given that he addressed her “with a libidinous spirit” to touch her in her intimate areas below and above. over her clothes on different occasions while telling her about the development of her breasts and buttocks.
The court has given credibility to the statement made during the trial by the victim, now of legal age, without appreciating any spurious motive since even the accused stated that the relationship with the victim had been “good.”
In this sense, the affected person “strongly” confirmed the version maintained both at the police headquarters and during the investigation of the case with specific situations of what she experienced, with special detail about everything that happened at the Nacimiento farmhouse, where she noted that The accused insisted that she smoke before the attack occurred, taking advantage of the fact that she had been stunned.
The victim’s version was also corroborated by the testimony of her boyfriend at the time of the events, whom she contacted after what happened at the farmhouse to tell him that she had been “raped.” The witness confirmed in the courtroom that the teenager was afraid of retaliation if she reported it, as well as her conversations about the rest of the previous situations.
Added to this was the report of the psychologists from the Márgenes y Vínculos foundation, which also corroborated the veracity of what was narrated by the minor, who offered a “credible” story and showed symptoms compatible with the experience of episodes of a sexual nature.
“The main testimony of the prosecution is firm, resounding, consistent, persistent and credible, having been corroborated by the indicated means,” the court highlights in its foundations, which considers all the facts to be accredited “even if the accused denies them” or provide witnesses who “did not provide any information” that would distort what was proven.
In addition to the custodial sentences, the court imposes 21 years of separation and incommunication from the victim on the accused, during which time he will not be able to hold any profession, trade or activity, whether paid or not, that involves regular and direct contact with people. minors. He also imposes 18 years of supervised release and the payment of 25,000 euros in compensation for moral damages.
The former councilor was part of the government team of the Huércal de Almería City Council between 2019 and February 2021, when the first mayor of Huercal, Ismael Torres (PP), ended the alliance due to discrepancies between the government partners.
The former Vox official came to occupy the position of first deputy mayor with powers in matters of Economy, Development and Business as well as Citizen Security and Traffic, so that under his area was the Local Police.
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