The Second Section of the Provincial Court of Castellón has imposed a sentence of 17 years and six months in prison on a man for two continued crimes of sexual assault on minors, after subjecting two twin sisters with whom he lived between September and November 2024 in Castellón to touching and other sexual practices.
In addition to the prison sentence, the convicted man must pay a compensation of 5,000 euros to each of the girls for moral damages. He is also prohibited from coming within 500 meters of the minors and communicating with them by any means for a period that will extend more than four years after he serves the prison sentence, as detailed by the Superior Court of Justice in an informative note.
The judicial resolution also establishes a special disqualification to exercise any profession, employment, or activity, paid or not, that involves direct and habitual contact with minors, for a period that exceeds by more than five years the duration of the prison sentence. The sentence is not final and can be appealed to the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the TSJCV.
Coexistence with the mother and the minors
According to the proven facts, in September 2024, the now convicted man and his wife, who maintained a friendship with the mother of the little girls, took her into their home along with the two girls after the woman had a dispute with her own mother, the grandmother of the victims, with whom they had been living until then.
During the time they shared the house, the court considers it proven that the accused, driven by the purpose of satisfying his sexual desire, took advantage of the moments when the twins were showering and the mother was not nearby to touch them in their intimate areas and kiss them on the mouth.
The sentence describes that these episodes occurred repeatedly. Although the minors opposed the man entering the bathroom, he claimed that it was his house and that he had to control and organize the use of the shower. In some of those incidents, he even held them forcefully and covered their mouths when they tried to escape or alert their mother.
On other occasions, when circumstances allowed, the assaults occurred on one of the beds in the house. To ensure that the girls remained silent, the accused warned them that if they told their mother anything, it would cause her to lose custody and that they would be separated from her.
Assessment of the testimony of the minors
In its ruling, the court emphasizes that the essential evidentiary element of the procedure is the statements of the two girls, whose account it considers solid and credible. "Our impression is that both accounts correspond to situations actually experienced by the minors," the judges point out, dismissing that their statements are "the product of invention or imagination" and do not perceive any spurious or illegitimate motive in the complaint made by the mother.