Section 1 of the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Region of Murcia (TSJ) has ratified the sentence of seven years and nine months in prison for a parish priest for continuously sexually abusing a minor. The facts date back to the years between 2006 and 2013, when the defendant was vice-parish priest of a church and, when he was carrying out his pastoral function, he met the family of the minor, born in 2002. Thus, he established a practically family relationship, until the about to have the keys to the address where the minor resided with his family, and it was common for him to frequently spend the night at the house.
Likewise, when the defendant was assigned to another church, the minor went to visit him on several occasions, which meant that he stayed to sleep at his home. In a period of time that has not been determined, but in which the victim was 13 years old, “the defendant especially took advantage of the great level of ancestry and superiority that he had acquired over the minor given his status as a priest and the close relationship almost familiar”, according to the sentence.
Thus, he took advantage of the moments when he was left alone with the minor and abused him, having relationships on several occasions, according to the facts considered proven by the sentence.
The events date back to the years between 2006 and 2013, when the priest became friends with the teenager’s family
In addition, at the beginning of these events, the minor’s academic performance was affected, as well as his mental, affective and psychological behavior, as indicated by the sentence. The individual was sentenced in the first instance as the perpetrator of a continuous crime of sexual abuse to a sentence of seven years and nine months in prison, with a prohibition of approaching less than 500 meters and of communication for a period of 5 years exceeding the duration of said prison sentence and, likewise, with the imposition of probation for the same period of 5 years.
The individual filed an appeal alleging an error in the appreciation of the evidence and the infringement of legal regulations due to the inadequate application of a substantive precept. Therefore, he ended up pleading for the annulment of the appealed sentence. However, the Chamber agreed to dismiss the appeal, stating that it is the Court of First Instance that enjoys the privileged and exclusive power to intervene in the practice of evidence and to correctly assess its result.
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