He invited them to his house
Eduardo P., a longtime member of the Barcelona Colla de Castellers, acknowledged in the ongoing case that he had subjected nine young participants to sexual abuse while providing massages. The admission and the agreement to compensate the victims with a total of 54,000 euros led prosecutors to reduce the originally requested punishment from roughly 39 years to about a decade and a half. The resolution includes imprisonment, a fine, disqualification from working with minors, and five years of probation. Given changes in the law, the maximum possible penalty for each offense is one year and four months, which means he would only serve time if a conviction requires actual imprisonment. The defense team may seek a postponed sentence, but current information indicates the prosecution will not oppose this.
During the proceedings inside the Barcelona court, four victims urged the judge to grant forgiveness. The courtroom scene was tense, with shouts and moments of confrontation, and some survivors faced the defendant directly after an earlier expulsion of ex-castellers from the group following complaints. The victims, tearful and unsettled, briefly stepped outside the courtroom before returning under the court’s direction. A brief statement from the women involved was delivered while they were shielded, and afterward, prosecutors invited them to the prosecutor’s office to clarify what had occurred.
Abuse related to trust and access
In court, Eduardo P. sat in the defendant’s chair as he answered a short series of questions about what transpired between 2014 and 2019. The nine victims were minors at the time, and the man used his position to gain the trust of families and younger members, inviting many to his home after rehearsals or before group performances. The prosecution contends that his expertise in giving massages, combined with his ability to charm and persuade, allowed him to coax the girls to relax, sometimes with promises of candy, treats, or their preferred foods.
These assurances were followed by massages intended to help the girls sleep better and ease muscular discomfort. Instead, the interactions progressed to inappropriate touching, including areas that were off-limits for someone in a caretaker role. Descriptions from the victims included touching of intimate areas and, in one instance, a reported instance of genital contact. A recurring element involved pressure to stay in undergarments and clothing that lowered barriers to inappropriate contact, with some survivors recounting that the situations occurred when the girls were in or near private spaces while still under the defendant’s supervision.
Detailed accusations of abuse
The case of the first survivor traces back to when she joined the castellera group at a very young age and briefly lived with the defendant when her mother was traveling. Between 2014 and 2017, there were at least two occasions when the man touched her breast and intimate area during supposed massages on a couch. In late 2014, as she approached adulthood, he allegedly touched her wrist and arranged for her to put an arm over his erect penis. The survivor later described pretending to sleep and changing her position to avoid further contact.
For three other minors, the report covers repeated conduct over several years. The defendant is accused of touching sides of the chest and various parts of the body, including the upper leg and buttocks, in ways that violated boundaries established by caregivers and families. On a trip back from a performance in Valls in June 2018, the defendant allegedly invited these minors to spend the night at his home, continuing to massage them and eventually touching them without consent. In one disturbing account, a girl awoke to the defendant masturbating while they slept, an act witnessed in a private space and described by the night’s events as a moment of fear and confusion. Between 2015 and mid-2019, it is alleged that the defendant, along with others, used massage as a pretext to touch buttocks, and in at least one case, he drew a hand toward a breast.
The overarching pattern described by prosecutors portrays a trusted figure exploiting his position within the group to access minors under the guise of care. Victims reported feeling pressured and vulnerable, sometimes facing pressure to participate in activities or to stay in locations that offered fewer chances to escape. The testimonies collectively depict a situation in which boundaries were routinely crossed in private settings following rehearsals or performances, creating a sense of secrecy and coercion that compounded the harm.