“My daughter and both to her thirteen-year-old friend, they pulled her hair and made her kneel before forcing her feet to kiss”. This is the testimony of one of the parents whose daughter was the victim of a group of underage children who devoted a few weeks to intimidating and robbing other children in the Dorado de Sama park in Asturias. Police have increased their presence in the area, but like others affected, this father believes other measures must be taken to put an end to this situation. “you should find a solutionbecause we can’t always patrol the park,” she says.
The events reported to the National Police took place on April 22, although the girl did not tell her family until a month later. “He told us that It took a while for her to say because they threatened her so she didn’t say it and now she doesn’t dare leave the house.“, explain. On this occasion, the girls were approached by three more young children. In addition to the reported “humiliation”, “also they took them to the kiosk to buy trinkets with their own money and forced them to watch them eat as well as take pictures of them kneeling.” As they were under 14 years old, the police could not arrest them, but they were able to identify them and relay what had happened to the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office, which is in charge of this case. However, this last agency fully archived the case because, as stated in the document accompanying this father’s complaint, the attackers were under the age of fourteen.
But that’s not the only complaint, he explains, “at least four or five more have been filed.” As he points out, “this is the only way to do something against these minors, the problem is, there are many parents who do not dare to go to the police for what might happen to them.”
Another of the complaints received is about some events that took place in the park’s sports field on April 5th. “My son and two other friends of mine were playing at age fourteen and another kid came in and asked them to play with them, and they agreed,” explains one mother. The boy left, but five minutes later, “angry and saying nothing, He started hitting one of my son’s friends, then folded his arms and put him on his knees and told him to apologize.. He also demanded money from my son and the other child and threatened them not to say anything about what had happened.” However, these children told their families, “This is why the next day we filed a police complaint with the other parents, whose other parents of the child were also injured.”
The alleged attacker is not one of the two girls approaching, but a relative of them. “Must be like five or six, brothers and cousins”, this draws attention to the mother. As in the other complaint, the Police were only able to identify the assailant and reported the incident to the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office. However, no lawsuit was filed and the process continues.
Complaint
These parents think the only way to stop these attacks is to file a complaint, but they don’t know how to fix the problem. Because of this situation, they explain, “children no longer want to go to the park or act in groups”. Some signed up for private entertainment establishments “to know they were in a safe place.” They also stress that, as announced by both the National Police and the Langreo City Council, “the presence of police officers in the park is increasing, but this is a relative solution because there cannot be a constant patrol.” In addition, the attackers who constantly come to the park, “They already have the police under control and they leave as soon as they arrive, but come back later”.
Affected parents also started a petition, which gathered in both shops and cafeterias in the town. The aim of this campaign is to strengthen security around Sama park.