The Alicante Provincial Court on Monday sentenced a 20-year-old defendant to four years in prison for raping a 19-year-old and stealing her mobile phone in Alicante. The court ordered the offender to pay the victim just over 8,000 euros for moral damages and the value of the stolen device, reflecting a reduction from an initial seven-year term after the defendant pleaded guilty in the trial and reached a conformity agreement with the Public Prosecutor and defense attorneys, Concepción Ferrández and José Manuel Yepes.
The accused, who is currently in preventive detention, admitted before the Section Three court of the Alicante Provincial Court that on the morning of December 3, 2022 he sexually assaulted the 19-year-old against her will. The court, after both parties waived appeals against the ruling, delivered the verdict in absentia and sentenced him to four years in prison.
According to the indictment filed by the Public Prosecutor and acknowledged by the defendant, at around 8:30 a.m. on December 3, 2022, he was at the intersection of Rambla de Méndez Núñez and Alfonso el Sabio Avenue with a girl he had met that night. The young woman attempted to board a bus to go home, but the defendant grabbed her and removed her mobile phone, fleeing toward a row of bushes.
Chase
The young woman pursued the defendant in an attempt to recover her phone, but she did not succeed. During the chase she suffered a fall. At that moment, the defendant, without her consent, lowered her pants and began to sexually assault her while pressing her head to the ground to prevent her escape.
The victim repeatedly asked him to stop, but the defendant ignored her pleas and raped her against her will. The assault left erosive injuries on several parts of her body, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Alicante.
The victim filed a police report the same day with the National Police, and the phone he had taken was valued at 295 euros.
The total value of the phone added to the 8,000 euros to be paid as compensation for moral damages to the rape victim, as established in the ruling.
In addition to imprisonment and compensation, the court convicted him of a minor offense of theft, imposing a 180-euro fine. He will also be prohibited from approaching or communicating with the victim by any means for a period of five years.
The Alicante Provincial Court also ordered a five-year supervised release after his release from prison, along with a nine-year special disqualification from any profession, trade, or activity involving regular direct contact with minors.