The third section of the Girona Court has tried this Tuesday an accused for whom the private prosecution asks for 12 years in prison for the alleged rape of a woman with psychic disability in Girona on the afternoon of November 12, 2022. The Prosecutor's Office maintains an initial request of 10 years in prison, another 10 of supervised release and a restraining order and communication ban for 11 years. The trial has been concluded for judgment.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution, the defendant and the victim contacted each other through a dating app and agreed to meet in person. The woman, who has a 65% mental disability, testified before psychologists in an examination that was later reproduced at the hearing to avoid her revictimization.
The complaint places the events in the area of La Creueta
According to that pre-constituted evidence, there was a first date in the Montilivi area, where both were talking sitting on a bench. Always according to the victim's account, the man proposed to meet again the next day at the same time and she accepted. She also explained that he told her that his ex-partner had reported him for sexist violence and that she agreed to see him again because it gave her "for".
The statement reproduced in the trial records that on November 12, 2022, around 7:30 p.m., the accused picked her up in a car and drove to the Creueta area. There, according to the complainant's version, he began to touch her breasts while she tried to push his hands away. Afterwards, always according to her testimony, he ordered her to move to the back seat.
The woman stated that she obeyed because she feared he could harm her if she contradicted him. In that seat, according to her account, the accused undressed her from the waist down and raped her.
The victim did not testify in court and the court saw the recorded exploration
The complainant did not appear in court. The court viewed the video of the examination carried out by the criminal technical team as pre-constituted evidence. The complaint was not filed until the following Monday, two days after the events, when the woman told the professionals at the supervised apartment where she lives and they went to file it. According to what she explained, there are no educators at the center on weekends.
The Prosecutor's Office also demands that the accused cannot approach within 200 meters or communicate with the victim for 11 years. It also requests compensation of 20,000 euros for moral damages.
The accused denies any physical contact
Facing this version, the defense asks for acquittal. The accused denied the facts at the hearing and only answered his lawyer's questions. He assured that he had "no physical contact" with the victim and maintained that "We only saw each other once".
According to his version, the woman got angry upon discovering that he had a partner. The defendant stated that, after an argument via messages and audio notes, she told him that they would see each other "at the courts". His partner testified along the same lines and said that she believed him when he denied having had sexual relations with the complainant.
The forensic pathologist rules out recent drug use on the investigated date
During the trial, the accused alleged that he has been in treatment for drug addiction. The forensic expert concluded, however, that at the time of the events and according to professional reports, he had been a year and a half without consuming.
The private prosecution raises the request for a sentence to 12 years, while the Public Prosecutor's Office sets it at 10. After the presentation of the evidence, the case has been left pending judgment.