SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has dismissed the appeal against a ruling of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife that acquitted two young men of an alleged sexual assault on a minor under 14 years during the celebration of the carnivals of San Andrés y Sauces in March 2020 – the third young man involved was not tried as he was a minor.
The sentence, made public this Thursday, considers it proven that the events occurred but does not take into account the request of the prosecution, to which the Prosecutor’s Office adhered, that the sexual relations were carried out without the consent of the minor since she was the who initiated the contacts and according to an eyewitness without “hearing any type of complaint”, quite the contrary.
In addition, he points out that although the events occurred in a dark alley, it was located just 25 meters from the square where a festival was held, so there is no room for “environmental intimidation.”
The Chamber maintains that the “only basis” of evidence is the statement of the victim, which does not offer “sufficient solidity” and the Provincial Court itself had already admitted the “insufficient evidence”, the contradictions of some witnesses not being sufficient.
In addition, it indicates that “it cannot be affirmed that the defendants had exact knowledge of the age of the minor, or sufficient data
enough to assume his probable minority or react indifferently to this eventuality”, especially the two adults, who met the victim at the party and despite the fact that his appearance of “physical smallness” could suggest that he was a minor.
One of the defendants has also pointed out that due to his attitude and his way of expressing himself, he did not appear to be a minor – the victim only knew the minor and superficially – and it was also possible that due to makeup or disguise his age went unnoticed. .
