Barcelona Court handed down a sentence exceeding ten years in prison after a former member of the Colla de los Castellers de Barcelona admitted at a hearing in the seventh division court to sexually assaulting nine girls between 2014 and 2019. The defense and prosecution reached an agreement, and the defendant acknowledged the facts before the court, leading to the conviction under that agreement. The final prison term was set at 10 years and six months.
The accused, once associated with the Colla de Castellers, faced accusations of abusing nine underage girls over a five-year span. He allegedly invited them to his home under the pretense of offering massages and then exploited the opportunity to touch their intimate areas or to rub against them while they were at his residence.
Along with the prison sentence, the public ministry imposed a fine of 1,080 euros and a ban on approaching the victims for a period extending five to six years beyond the prison term. Each victim was also awarded 6,000 euros in compensation. The defense indicated plans to seek a postponement of the sentence once it becomes final, noting that none of the offenses carried a punishment of two years or more on their own, and that the Prosecutor’s Office had not shown interest in resisting this approach. The court was expected to oppose any delay to the finalization of the judgment.
The sentence reflected the trust placed in the accused by the victims and their families, who initially viewed him as a mentor. The court noted that the defendant exploited that trust by inviting the victims to his home under the guise of giving massages or offering sweets and their favorite foods. The appeal to comfort and personal attention created an environment in which the abuse could occur. The court described how the defendant used the massage pretext to direct the girls to remain in their underwear and to remove other clothing, facilitating inappropriate touching under the pretense of ensuring their comfort in order to observe his anatomy more clearly.
During the proceedings, the court described an instance in which one of the young women was held with an arm resting on the defendant’s erect penis while she lay on a sofa bed, allegedly under the pretense of receiving a massage. The girl moved her wrist from top to bottom and remained in that position for several minutes until she reacted. In another episode, the defendant invited several young women to his home after returning late from the Valls Festival in Tarragona in June 2018. While at the residence, he performed massages and eventually touched their buttocks. Early that morning, one of the victims awoke to sounds of pleasure and witnessed the defendant masturbating, as reported in the court’s account.
Although the conviction arose from a negotiated agreement, a portion of the trial had to proceed to sentencing due to high demand for accountability. Many victims confirmed the attacks during the proceedings and described how they were exposed to the defendant’s behavior. The Colla de Castellers de Barcelona issued a statement noting that the defendant had already filed a criminal complaint and had been temporarily expelled from the organization when the facts came to light. The group later stated that, once the conviction was made public, its board would initiate the process of final expulsion, adding that the individual “had been at the mercy of justice and the Mossos d’Esquadra” throughout the legal process. [Citation: court records, 2024; statement from Colla de Castellers de Barcelona]”}