Supreme Court acquits 19-year-old man under 'Romeo and Juliet clause' in case involving suspected abuse of 12-year-old girl in Malaga province

The Supreme Court of Spain has acquitted a 19-year-old man of child abuse involving a 13-year-old girl with whom he had a consensual sexual relationship for a few months, which started when she was 12 years and 10 months old. According to the court, the defendant, although he was charged with sexual abuse of a minor, given that the girl was under the minimum age of consent (16), had a certain level of immaturity, which brought him closer in mental age to the girl.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court refers to the 'Romeo and Juliet clause', which exempts defendants from criminal liability under very specific circumstances. According to the judge, the young man lacked the "physical and psychological development" for his age.

The extraordinary thing about the case investigated in Malaga province is that the defendant was not a minor. He was 19 years old, that is, seven years older than the girl with whom he had consensual sexual relations, although this consent could be considered vitiated by her age.

The cassation appeal that took the case to the Supreme Court was built around precisely this argument: that the 'Romeo and Juliet clause' should not apply when the defendant has entered adulthood.

The appeal relied on Circular 1/2017, which establishes three levels of protection for minors. Specifically, the second level, cited in the Supreme Court ruling, covers children from puberty up to the age of 13. However, it also specifies that the perpetrator's age must not exceed 18 for this level of protection to apply.

The sentence reproduces the facts that the provincial court of Malaga declared proven: "Juan Luis was invited to this home (hers) by Aurora (both are not their real names) in order to maintain these relations during school hours, taking advantage of her absence from classes and the absence of Aurora's mother, who was at work."

In order to reach a verdict of acquittal, the Malaga court relied on the fact that Juan Luis presented the psychological profile of a person with "poor maturity development", reduced skills for social relations in the context of a "withdrawn and introverted" personality, as well as a "childish mentality with no capacity for psychosocial response".

In fact, at the time of the events, the young man was undergoing psychological treatment for this reason, which considerably reduced his intellectual and volitional faculties. For the court, this profile "brought him closer to Aurora in terms of development and maturity", especially bearing in mind that she, on the contrary, showed "greater development and maturity than other minors her age".

The Supreme Court, which upheld the acquittal handed down by the Malaga High Court, said that the legislation of other European countries does set an age range for the application of this 'Romeo and Juliet clause', which can be two, three or five years, depending on the country.

However, the Spanish "legislator opted to establish a more open guideline for the acquittal of responsibility, while still requiring that the minor engage in a sexual relationship with someone of a comparable age and level of maturity".

In summary, the ruling considers that, although Aurora was a minor, "Juan Luis was a young man who was clearly in love with her". For this reason, both courts cannot justify a conviction for sexual abuse.