Malaga province ranks third in Spain for most minors convicted of sexual offences
In just one year, the number of teenagers sentenced for this type of crime has more than doubled
Malaga was the third Spanish province with the highest number of minors to be convicted of sexual offences in 2024. While nationally 550 adolescents were found guilty of conduct that violated sexual freedom, in Malaga there were a total of 31 young people, whose convictions are final, for this type of crime. It should be noted that these figures only apply to young people aged between 14 and 17 years, as those younger than this are deemed by law to not be criminally responsible for their actions in this regard.
Malaga's total was only surpassed by the provinces of Barcelona (52) and Alicante (48), while Madrid and Valencia stood in fourth place with 30 sentences passed for these crimes, according to data made public by the Ministry of Justice and consulted by SUR.
According to these statistics, the number of cases in Malaga province has tripled, rising from nine in 2017 - the first year included in this report - to the 31 in 2024. The previous year,13 minors were convicted for this type of conduct, so the increase has also been considerable, more than doubling in just 12 months. Similarly, in addition to the convictions, the province recorded 37 sexual offences committed by minors last year and this type of crime led to a total of 71 measures being taken by Malaga courts.
At a regional level, Malaga accounted for 31.3% of the sentences handed down, totalling 99 across Andalucía. Cadiz province had the highest number of teenagers convicted of sexual offences in 2023, with 16 final sentences passed. Despite Malaga surpassing it in the latest statistics, the number of convictions also rose considerably in the province of Cadiz in 2024, with 24 minors convicted. In contrast, Huelva recorded the fewest cases last year (just one), followed by Cordoba (five) and Jaen (six).
The rise in sexual crimes perpetrated by minors in Spain is one of the concerns echoed by the public prosecutor's office in recent years. The state attorney general's office (FGE), in its 2025 annual report relating to the previous year, points to "early access to inappropriate pornographic content without adequate sex education and overall education in values" as the main cause of this problem. Although there are cases in which other factors have been detected, such as alcohol consumption or substance abuse, the report emphasises the pernicious influence that these types of images have on adolescents, as they can lead to "the trivialisation of violent behaviour and a misconception of free and consensual sexual relations".
In this regard, the FGE warns that pornography is a source of inspiration for adolescents and supports this claim with data: 54.1% believe that this content provides ideas for their own sexual experiences (mostly boys) and 54.9% would like to put into practice what they have seen. "The 47.4% of adolescents who frequently view pornography have acted out at least one such scenario, with boys being the most frequent consumers of these images."
31.3% of minors convicted of sexual offences in Andalucía are from Malaga province. Across the region, 99 final sentences were handed down to adolescents aged between 14 and 17 for this type of criminal behaviour
According to the analysis, it is essential that minors have the tools to interpret this content, as they access it online prematurely in their adult development and without completing a proper ethical and sexual education.
In fact, the report warns that these types of websites "in practice serve as a pseudo-educational function", which contributes to teenagers acquiring a false and distorted view of sexual relationships, based on dominance and submission, which they then apply to their own experiences.
