The National Court has sentenced the Manuel Blanco Vella tourist guide for crimes of sexual aggression against three young Americans during different trips between 2013 and 2017. At that time, the victims studied in Spanish universities and participated in organized excursions By the Discover Experiences, based in Seville, for which the defendant was responsible, as proven by the sentence to which this newspaper has had access.
The magistrates of the First Section of the Criminal Chamber have imposed a total penalty of nine years in prison, as a result of adding the six years derived from a crime of sexual aggression perpetrated in Morocco, and a year and a half of prison for Each of the two crimes of sexual aggression committed during a trip in Portugal. In addition, the sentence condemns the accused to compensate with 40,000 euros to the girl who suffered sexual aggression in Morocco and with 1,500 euros to each of the other two victims, as well as a lot of departure.
The first case occurred in November 2013, during a trip to Morocco. Blanco Vela, according to the sentence, assaulted one of the 19 -year -old students in a hotel room where they were staying. The victim suspected that he had been “drugged and sodomized”, on account of the “strong pains” he felt in several parts of his body the next morning, but did not relate the facts until five years later. Then, during a university days in Florida, he commented with other students who said they had suffered a “similar nature” experience.
Following that conversation, the young woman addressed the consul general of Spain in Miami to denounce the facts. To his testimony was added that of two other American students who had also been victims of the accused during another trip made in the summer of 2017 with the same Sevillian agency. All the stories agree that the aggressor followed a “identical” pattern with the victims: “It approaches women, all of them very young, kindly, proposes to have a drink and play the identical game to finally attempt against His sexual freedom, ”concludes the decision of the National Court, issued last Monday, February 10.
Testimony “truthful and credible”
The National Court Chamber considers “truthful and credible” the testimony of the first girl who denounced the aggression by not appreciating “that the victim with this complaint obtains benefit or provides it moved by enmity or resentment”, given that “he did not have A previous relationship with the defendant, who only knew for being responsible for the guides of a trip he made. ”
The Court also underlines the victim’s vulnerability situation, since it was a 19 -year -old girl, who was in a country “who is alien to her”, carrying out his studies, without knowing “the language or customs” and without knowing “how institutions work”, counting only on the support of “their fellow students and those responsible.” Although he did not know Blanco Vela, the defendant “won his confidence when presenting himself as a kind and educated person, who seemed to protect her and her companions when she recommended her for her security that they did not leave the hotel.”
As for the delay in formalizing the complaint, which occurred five years after the facts, the National Court understands that “does not remain credibility” to the victim. The court explains that not all women react in the same way to an attack on their sexual freedom. And, in this case, the victim explained coherence why he did not report before: “Only when he is aware of what has happened and meets other women who have been victims, in his opinion of the same aggressor, is when he formulates the complaint ”, As explained by one of the psychologists during the view.
Imposed condemnation
For all these reasons, the Court has sentenced the accused to a total penalty of nine years in prison as the author of a crime of sexual aggression of article 179 in relation to the 178 of the Criminal Code, and of two other crimes of sexual aggression for that same article. The National Court highlights the severity of the position of power that Blanc .
In addition, he imposes the prohibition of exercising as a tour guide for seven and a half years and condemns him to compensate with 40.00 euros to the young woman who suffered sexual assault in Morocco, and with 1,500 euros to each two victims. Of course, it recognizes that “it is not possible to translate into money automatically a moral damage and that the only thing we can carry out is an assessment of the importance of damage in attention to the circumstances of the victims and tries to convert such estimate into A concrete monetary sum ”.
The sentence is adjusted in general as requested by the Prosecutor’s Office, which had been requested for the accused nine years of prison for an alleged crime of sexual aggression and violation, as well as two alleged crimes of sexual abuse, which have finally been considered as Three crimes of sexual aggression with different typification.
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