Paedophile sentenced to two years in prison for sexual assault of friend's young daughter in Fuengirola

The high court of justice of Andalucía (TSJA) has upheld the conviction of a paedophile after considering it proven that he sexually abused the young daughter of a friend in Fuengirola. The man, according to the ruling, took advantage of the fact that the victim, who had not yet reached the age of 16, spent the night at his house, where he assaulted her while she slept.

The accused will have to serve two years in prison as the perpetrator of a crime of sexual assault on a minor, in addition to five years of probation and a ban on approaching or communicating with the victim for five years. This was imposed by the provincial court of Malaga when the case was tried in the first instance, which has been ratified by the Andalusian high court.

According to the evidence, the abuse happened at the end of December 2021, when the minor stayed at the home of some very close friends of her father. The defendant took advantage of the fact that she was sleeping to get into a nearby trundle bed, from where he began to caress the child on different parts of her body with the sole purpose of satisfying his sexual urges.

The minor woke up in the early hours of the morning when she realised that she was being touched, after which she asked the man to stop, and he complied, according to the prosecution. The defendant's legal representation filed an appeal against the ruling, alleging that the defendant's presumption of innocence had been violated, as well as pointing to possible spurious motives on the part of the minor.

None of the defence's claims have succeeded, as the TSJA considered that “there is no evidence of ill will, any interest in unlawfully harming the defendant, or any other dubious motive that would lead the minor to falsify reality, whether on her own initiative or induced by third parties”.