Malaga priest faces harassment allegations from young woman who claims to have been his former partner

Allegations of a Malaga priest harassing a young woman have emerged, again placing the local Church authorities under the spotlight.

It comes after the first scandal involving Father Fran, who is accused of raping unconscious women after drugging them. Now, another priest, Father Roberto, has been arrested in the province for allegedly harassing a young woman who claims to have been his partner.

The woman filed up to six complaints with the National Police and Guardia Civil where she eventually claimed she had a romantic relationship with the parish priest of Canillas de Aceituno, who also covers Sedella and Salares. When she ended the relationship, the priest allegedly began to harass her, forcing her to move house several times, she claimed.

The young woman's complaints even triggered the courts to issue a 300-metre restraining order against Father Roberto, which prohibits him from approaching her "current or future home, as well as her place of work, studies or any other place, public or private, frequented by her". The precautionary measure also prevents him from talking to the woman or contacting her by any means.

The latest in a long list of incidents of harassment reported by the complainant, which led to the arrest of the parish priest, happened just last month on 4 September. She was driving on the A-7 motorway at Rincón de la Victoria towards Malaga city when the priest allegedly pulled up behind her vehicle. When she let him pass, "he looked at her and laughed" before pulling in front of her and slowing down, according to the woman's complaint. She moved to the middle lane and then to the left to pass him, but the priest allegedly moved behind her again and began to accelerate. Amid the chaos the woman managed to snap a photo of the priest's car and sent it to police.

The first complaint against the priest goes back to 28 October 2022, which was filed in Madrid where she had moved to allegedly get away from Father Roberto after living with him for about six months in the parish home. At the time, she did not mention the alleged relationship, although she said that when she would receive messages from other people he would be extremely jealous, warning her that if she replied to them, "she would have to leave his house", she told the police.

However, every time she packed her bags to leave the house, he would "apologise" to her. In September 2022, she left permanently for Madrid, although she left some personal belongings, such as her computer, inside the house. She claimed the parish priest used the laptop to try to find out the new location of the woman, who had blocked him on her phone, WhatsApp and social media. Her manager also reported a man had been calling the four shops of the franchise she worked at in a bid to find her, she told police.

The woman filed two further complaints on 15 December 2022 (Alicante) and 22 January 2023 (Torremolinos), claiming harassment and that the priest was "obsessed with control and knowing everything about her". However, it was not until a month later that she first revealed to the authorities that they had been a couple. On 21 February 2023, she went to the Cartagena police station - the fourth complaint - to report she was a victim of gender violence and she had suffered psychological abuse.

According to what she revealed at the time, they had a relationship between March and June 2021. When they broke up, they continued to live together at the same address until September 2022. They lived with six other people, although, she said, they continued to share a room.

At the Cartagena police station, the woman recalled two specific incidents which she claimed were proof the priest was following her. On 23 February, while she was still in Cartagena, the woman went to the police station again to file an extension of the complaint. Father Roberto had allegedly contacted her by telephone and harassed her. She also said she was receiving psychological counselling because of the alleged harassment.

Court order

Five days later, a Cartagena court issued the restraining order and ordered the arrest of the parish priest. The judge considered the "persistent" statements of the complainant and the impact it was having on her life: "[...] in fact, she gets emotional, even crying, when she tells of the feeling of being overwhelmed that she suffers".

The judge also accepted the statement of a work colleague who "could see the reaction of the victim, who became nervous when a vehicle passed by". Father Roberto denied all wrong-doing. His lawyer has refused to make any other further comments as the court case is ongoing.

The Malaga diocese said late on Wednesday 4 October the parish priest is not in custody, but "is on retreat for a few days away from his village". It added that both the priest and the woman "denounced each other for harassment", but "only the restraining order was imposed on him". The Church also claimed it was unaware of the restraining order. According to the priest's defence, he did not break the restraining order.

The Diocese acknowledged it was aware of the "disagreements between the two", but said it "could not intervene" as it was a case of "personal matters between two adults". It concluded: "The facts are at the investigation stage; therefore, we must wait for the investigation of these proceedings to be completed in order to make a fair assessment".