The prosecutor requested imprisonment on Saturday for Juan Nogueira Carballo, 59, after his arrest for allegedly continuing sexual assault against his underage daughter for eight years in Pontevedra.
The man, after giving testimony at Vilagarcía’s Court Number 2, which was on guard, was released provisionally with precautionary measures restricting his proximity to the victim. He died by suicide at five thirty on Monday, shortly after posting a message on social media describing his decision.
He was detained Friday following a complaint filed by his own daughter the day before at the Vilagarcía de Arousa Police Station. Legal sources consulted stressed that the abuse only came to light because the child disclosed it during a psychological evaluation she attended.
The child warned several times
Thus, the girl could count on support from her family as she went through the process of reporting her father, who allegedly abused her since she was eight years old. Until now, the facts had been kept strictly secret due to shame or fear.
Sources close to the investigation explained that the girl repeatedly alerted her relatives and close circles about what was allegedly happening, but nobody believed her and some even attributed it to typical teenage imagination.
Evidence of the events
One day she decided she would not be dismissed. She gathered evidence, knowing her father’s phone contained intimate images of her. In a moment of carelessness, she captured a screenshot and handed it to the police to corroborate her account.
Investigators say that when Juan Nogueira was arrested, officers seized his mobile phone and found more than a dozen photographs showing the minor’s private parts.
Judicial proceedings
The seriousness of the case is acknowledged in the order issued by Vilagarcía’s Court Number 2. After taking his statement, the judge granted provisional freedom but charged him as a suspect of a sexual assault on a minor under 16, with restrictions including a prohibition on approaching within 500 meters of the victim and avoiding any contact through any means. The judge also granted custody to the minor’s mother and did not grant visitation rights to the father.
The judge noted that, while the allegations could carry a severe penalty, the provisional detention did not meet the purposes of the law. The more proportionate boundary measure, the judge said, would counteract the risk of repeat offenses, considering that the accused has a stable family, social, and work life and no criminal record.
Consequently, on the same Saturday after providing his statement, he was released provisionally. Less than 36 hours later, he took his own life, a decision he seemed to have contemplated in a Facebook post where he received numerous comments from friends.
Reportedly, despite the explicit prohibition, the man continued sending dozens of WhatsApp messages to his daughter that day and even left a letter for her. In the note he told her that she was more than a daughter to him, a confidant, and he asked family and friends not to spend money on flowers for his funeral, suggesting instead a fundraiser to hire a band so the farewell would be cheerful rather than mournful.
Low-key funeral and public reaction
The funeral took place the following day, with only a handful of close friends and relatives in attendance as the community processed the shock of the events in Vilanova de Arousa and Vilagarcía de Arousa, where the family is well known and many people found the news hard to believe.
Juan Nogueira Carballo was buried in András after a service at the parish church. The ceremony drew a small attendance, with a focus on a quiet farewell rather than public spectacle.
Political ties
Noteworthy is that he had been listed in the recent municipal elections with Renova Vilanova, a group led by José Juan Durán Hermida, brother of the mayor Gonzalo Durán. He held the twelfth position on a list created for the May 28 election and the group only won a single seat, in contrast to the overwhelming majority won by the People’s Party.
It is also noted that Nogueira Carballo had worked for the town hall in Vilanova de Arousa in recent years and had been approaching retirement, drawing a pension in recent months. His life was balanced between his hometown and Vilagarcía de Arousa, where many relatives and friends resided or worked.