A Madrid court ruled on a complaint filed by a young woman who once reported a sexual assault involving three young men. The salient events unfolded in Madrid, where three men she met at a bar in the capital became central to the case. The men, aged in their late teens, were later acquitted of the charges. The complainant, who had traveled to Mallorca about two months after the alleged incident, faced a serious accusation herself when investigators connected her to the alleged sexual assault. The trio had been arrested at a Palma nightclub after the woman reportedly identified them during the search. The incident date was March 11, 2018. On that day, the woman was staying with a friend in Madrid and visited a local bar with them. A young man accompanied by two friends began engaging her with teasing and jokes as she left the restroom. After that moment, he kept talking to the trio even as the woman and her companion who had accompanied her decided to return home. The group continued to enjoy the night, first stopping at another bar and later moving to a different venue, after briefly purchasing more alcohol earlier in the evening.
They eventually returned to a home setting around midnight. The four began a game of truth or dare, a social activity that often involves challenges proposed by players. During the course of the game, the woman kissed one of the young men. In the Madrid court’s account, the woman then went to a bedroom with two of the friends. Soon after, the third participant joined them. The group proceeded to engage in a threesome in the bed. After some time, the three young men accompanied the woman to a taxi stand, and the woman later went to return to her friend’s residence to sleep.
At one point the woman stated she could not recall the events clearly and suspected that she might have been given a substance by the three men. The following morning, she realized her memory of the night was hazy and observed pain in the vaginal area, which led her to suspect rape and the possible administration of a substance to those involved so she would not resist. She did not immediately report the incident; instead, she chose to return to Mallorca before explaining what had happened to the authorities. In her testimony, she acknowledged significant gaps in her memory but maintained that she was the victim of a triple sexual assault. The report was eventually forwarded to the Madrid police station, yet the three youths could not be located due to limited information from the complainant. Two months later, they happened to be on vacation in Mallorca and were spotted by the complainant at a nightclub. She promptly contacted her lawyer and the police, leading to the three friends’ arrest.
The court carefully weighed the woman’s account against the statements provided by each of the three defendants, who faced potential sentences of up to ten years for their alleged involvement. The trio argued that a single instance of consensual sexual activity occurred and that no toxic substances had been involved. They maintained the woman and others had consumed only alcohol that night. Tests performed on the complainant showed no trace of drugs. The judges leaned toward the three teenagers’ version, noting that the taxi driver who transported the woman to her friend’s home did not observe unusual behavior and did not report any medication use. The friend who opened the door upon the woman’s return also did not notice anything unusual when she was brought inside and later went to sleep. In the court’s assessment, the evidence did not support the claim that the encounter was coercive or non-consensual.
Ultimately, the Madrid court did not find sufficient proof to convict the three defendants of rape, and the record reflects that the enquiry into the events surrounding the night did not establish a clear, non-consensual pattern as alleged by the woman. The decision underscores the difficulty of resolving complex sexual assault claims when memories are fragmented and when corroborating details are limited. The court’s assessment highlighted the absence of material evidence linking the defendants to any non-consensual act beyond the complainant’s account, and the case illustrates the careful legal scrutiny applied in such trials. With no conclusive evidence of drugging or coercion, the judges concluded that the trio’s conduct did not meet the threshold required for a conviction, emphasizing the importance of reliable testimony and corroborated facts in cases of this nature. (Attribution: Madrid court records).