SPAIN’S Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant who appealed against a five year jail term for sexually assaulting a woman with mental disabilities will still serve his prison sentence.
The Madrid court upheld a previous decision from the Provincial Court of Almeria. It dismissed the defendant’s appeal which was made on the grounds the woman invited him to make sexual advances.
The courts heard the defendant approached the 19-year-old while she was returning home from a centre that trains people with mental disabilities and special needs for work.
Prosecutors told the court the defendant said he would accompany the woman to her home so he could give her family some clothes.
She agreed and when they arrived there the defendant forced himself inside, threw her on a sofa and began taking off her clothes.
He then sexually assaulted her and the 19-year-old tried to resist. The defendant used more force to try and assault the woman which left her with slight injuries.
The court heard the woman’s mental disability meant she was not able to freely consent to having sex. Judges dismissed claimed from the defendant’s lawyers who claimed the victim’s testimony was compromised by her condition.
The court also heard there was DNA evidence taken from the victim’s body which matched her version of events. Psychologists told the court the woman’s condition was such that she would not be able to invent a fictitious version of events.
The Supreme Court has upheld a €50,000 compensation payout to the victim ordered by the Almeria court.
The defendant will also be required to pay a further €740 in damages for injuring the woman at a rate of €10 a day. He will also be on probation for five years.
