Row over honours awarded to Benalmádena policeman facing charges for alleged sexual abuse of three nieces

The celebration of their patron saint is a public holiday for all police forces across Spain. It is a day when active and retired officers and their families get together. It is also a day to honour the work and service of the security forces.

The Benalmádena Local Police ceremony took place on the evening of Friday, 26 September. However, one of the medals was not awarded, as the officer who was to receive it is being prosecuted on suspicion of having sexually abused three nieces of his.

The officer in question is in his 60s. Still in active service, he was to be honoured by the Benalmádena Local Police for having been with the force for three decades. According to municipal sources, the yellow badge medal is an "objective" recognition given to everybody who has been with the police for 30 years.

The officer was also to receive another medal for 15 years of service and two public commendations: one for his service in the fire that shocked Benalmádena on 11 September and the other for having been on active duty during the Covid-19 pandemic. Once again, the municipal team pointed out that every officer who has participated in these activities receives the decoration, which implies lack of an "objective" reason not to honour the prosecured police officer. In fact, they stated that not awarding him would have been "discriminatory".

When he was notified of the award, the officer expressed his intention to attend the ceremony and requested that the medal be awarded to his wife, to whom he has remained close all this time. The matter also came to the attention of his family and in-laws, who have been divided since the minors - girls from both sides of the family - reported abuse. The award ceremony raised concerns, because a close relative, who is also a member of the Local Police, was going to attend the event, accompanied by his close family.

The day before the celebration, the association dedicated to the protection of minors against sexual assault (Alas), which has been assisting the girls and their families for some time, filed a letter/complaint at the police headquarters demanding respect for the victims and alluding to the youth protection law in order to demand that public administrations "avoid any action that could be interpreted as a social or institutional endorsement of conduct that is under investigation and judicial scrutiny".

In the letter, Alas asked the Benalmádena Local Police to "reconsider" the granting of this recognition, in accordance with the principle of "victim protection", appealing to the "institutional responsibility" of not "interfering with or undermining" confidence in the justice system.

In addition, the officer in question has an active 500-metre restraining order in relation to at least two of the girls. Given the possibility that the minors might attend the event and with respect for the court order, the Local Police decided to suspend their employee's participation in this year's award ceremony.

In the absence of precedents for similar cases, the police also decided to request a report from the town hall's legal department to determine whether these awards could imply a possible violation of the law (on child protection), leaving open the possibility of giving the awards to the officer on next year's day of the patron saint.

In response to questions from SUR, Benalmádena town hall stated that it had decided to "suspend and not present the awards" in view of the "delicate and complex issue under judicial investigation". The municipal team said that "putting the interest and protection of the minors first" is their priority. In addition, the town hall described the complexity of a situation faced with "a collision between the protection of minors and the constitutional right to the presumption of innocence, which must also be safeguarded by public administrations". With that said, Benalmádena town hall announced that it will operate on the basis of these rights "until the corresponding legal reports have been issued or until a court ruling has been handed down, as the case may be".

The incident was reported in 2021 by the parents of the children - two of them are sisters. They accused the girls' uncle of having touched them on several occasions, in the context of playing "games". All three girls were under the age of 12 at the time. According to the families, it is difficult to enforce the restraining orders, as they all live in the same municipality and their relative under investigation is an active member of the Local Police, which gives him the freedom to move around the town.

In 2023, the court in Torremolinos issued an indictment against the defendant, considering that there may be evidence of three continuous crimes of sexual abuse and two of exhibitionism based on the examinations of the minors and the psychological assessment reports, which concluded that the girls' testimonies were compatible with sexual violence. The resolution set bail at 18,000 euros (6,000 for moral damages to each of the girls) and restraining orders.

The case is now in the hands of the prosecution, which will have to decide whether to charge the defendant. During the entire investigation, the defendant has always denied his responsibility in the sexual abuse acts, defending his innocence. His lawyer has now stated that the refusal to grant him his awards is an expression of taking away a police officer's right to be recognised.

The defendant's closest family states that one of his sisters accused him because of a money-related conflict, which ignited tension among the other members. According to them, there are "numerous pieces of evidence" to prove his innocence and their side of the story in a trial, which is where, they insist, these matters should be cleared up.

The court has already ruled in favour of the defendant on two occasions. When the town hall opened proceedings to suspend him from employment and salary, the defendant appealed and won the case, as the court upheld his innocence. He also won another case concerning a potential post transfer.