The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Prosecutor’s Office maintained its request on Tuesday for 15 years in prison, the maximum provided by law, and compensation of 10,000 euros for a man accused of almost daily rapes from 2019 to 2023 of his underage stepdaughter, who became pregnant and gave birth at home to a girl with a 95% disability.
The private prosecution, carried out by the Government of the Canary Islands, supported the Public Prosecutor’s request. The defence is seeking an acquittal or, in the event of a conviction, consideration that there was no intimidation, so that a maximum of 10 years is imposed on the accused.
During the hearing in the Provincial Court, the accused had to be removed from the courtroom on two occasions, claiming disagreement with his lawyer and asserting his right to a fair trial. The court interpreted this as a refusal to testify, a point he reiterated more calmly in his final statement.
In his courtroom statements, the accused did not deny the events but claims that the young woman was in love with him, that it was she who took the initiative, they had consensual relations on about ten occasions, and that she insulted him to question his manhood as a means to motivate him to have sex.
The Prosecutor highlighted that on the day of the baby’s birth, it was the last time he assaulted her after her waters broke, as he said it was to “facilitate dilation”, and then he helped with the delivery.
Experts confirmed that DNA tests show there are 700 million chances of the accused being the father of the newborn, thus ruling out any other possibility.
The technique of the Directorate General for Minors responsible for handling the case indicated that the mother has a 65% mental disability and had already been declared at risk along with her other sister, and upon the girl’s birth, she was placed into care.
The young woman was described as “very vulnerable” due to a certain disability and her justification for not reporting what happened due to the accused’s threats to send all siblings to a care centre.
Local police who transferred the young woman to the care centre on 3rd June 2023, when the birth took place, noted that she was “very introverted”, “in shock”, her words were “very brief”, which did not correspond with the supposed joy she should have felt about the birth.
The police also found it significant that the stepfather called the centre, but instead of inquiring about her well-being or if she needed anything, he asked what the minor had told them.
Police were familiar with the accused as he was “very problematic”, with various antecedents and a conviction in 2001 for sexual assault, and he sent letters to the young woman from prison urging her to maintain her version of events.
The accused had started a romantic relationship with the minor’s mother, who was born from another relationship, and they moved in together in the woman’s house in Anaga.
The Prosecutor contends that the man was aware that his stepdaughter was under 16 and took advantage of their cohabitation to bring the girl to the marital bedroom when his partner was not at home, touching her and engaging in full sexual relationships without protection, despite her refusal.
