The Superior Court of Justice of Galicia has decided to reduce from seven to four years of prison the sentence imposed on a man convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl who was in a state of intoxication in Ourense, whom he subsequently left abandoned in an alley.
The reduction is due to the type of crime finally applied, as the high Galician court understands it is proven that, although there was an impairment due to alcohol consumption, it has not been fully demonstrated that such influence completely annulled the victim's decision-making capacity. Nevertheless, the judicial body confirms that there was a sexual assault, noting that the relations occurred without the minor's consent.
The Chamber based the conviction on "the persistence in the incrimination" of the victim throughout her statements, highlighting the "essential homogeneity" of her testimony and that the judges did not "notice substantial contradictions" in her account. The young woman stated that she "never had a close relationship" with the accused, whom she only identified because "she knows him because he made comments about her breasts" and because both he and other friends called her "nymphomaniac."
According to the proven facts of the sentence, in the early hours of October 15, 2023, between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m., the convicted man approached the minor "with the intention of satisfying his sexual appetites" when she was returning to her home.
Taking advantage of the fact that the young woman had her cognitive and volitional capacities "ostensibly affected by the state of intoxication in which she was mixed with fluoxetine," the man took her to a secluded alley with no nearby traffic.
Once in that place, the convicted man held the victim by the head and forced her to perform oral sex, ultimately achieving that she did so while she was completely defenseless. He then proceeded to partially undress her to vaginally penetrate her, ejaculating inside her and on her breasts without protection. After that, he left the area, leaving the minor "alone and lying on the ground face up."
Conviction upheld for harassment of his ex-partner
In another ruling, the TSXG has upheld the sentence imposed on a man for repeatedly harassing his ex-partner during the divorce process, for which he must serve one year in prison.
The now confirmed sentence details that the investigated person made dozens of calls a day, also at night and in the early morning, with continuous insistence.
"The harassment intensifies in the summer of 2024 and even more since the beginning of a new romantic relationship on the part of the complainant," the court ruling states, which considers the harassment to be proven.