As Spain began rolling back sentences under the reform that enshrines the principle that only yes means yes, Félix Vidal emerged in the press as the figure linked to Anido, nicknamed the stiletto rapist. The newspaper La Nueva España, part of the Prensa Ibérica group, reported that lawyers representing Vidal sought leniency for their client. In a landmark move, the Oviedo Provincial Court’s Third Division reduced Vidal Anido’s prison term from 13 years to two and a half years, a judgment issued in 2019 for a sexual assault that occurred in a 2017 Oviedo hostel.
On 13 March 2023, the court granted a reconsideration under the sexual freedom reform, meaning Vidal Anido would serve ten and a half years in prison instead of the earlier thirteen. This development was conveyed to Europa Press by legal sources (Europa Press).
While keeping the absolute disqualification order in place, the judge lowered the prohibition on approaching or contacting the victim from fourteen years to eleven years and six months. The court also imposed a fifteen-year and six-month extra disqualification from any professional activity involving regular and direct contact with minors.
The suspect had originally received a thirteen-year sentence in 2019 for a crime described at the time as sexual assault. It involved a woman with a substantial intellectual disability and culminated in a fine of 180 euros for a minor theft offense. The convicted man appealed, but the Supreme Court rejected the petition in 2021 (Supreme Court decision).
According to prosecutors, the events occurred in December 2017, when Vidal Anido and a woman identified by the initials MAPF were living with the victim in a rented Oviedo apartment. The investigation notes that the defendants took steps to gain the victim’s trust, gradually normalizing their influence and making the victim feel that she was under the attackers’ protection due to her disability.
The pair exploited the victim’s vulnerability through a link to her grandfather, who lived in a nursing home in Laviana and held a bank account in his name. The two men used the grandfather’s signature and authority so they could access funds whenever needed.
Under pressure and with threatening language, the accused coerced the victim into withdrawing money from the grandfather’s account. When she refused, the defendants allegedly threatened to kill her, and in a state of fear, the victim complied, withdrawing a total of 1,700 euros.
On December 22, 2017, around 12:30 p.m., the victim was asleep in her room within the communal apartment when one of the accused entered and sexually assaulted her. He reportedly warned that she would be killed if she revealed what had happened.
The victim did not report the incident immediately, fearing the alleged threats, but later that same day the defendant forced her to accompany him to the town of Moreda, where she was subjected to additional violence. She managed to escape with the help of a witness and contacted the Civil Guards, who subsequently transported the victim and supported her through the process. The hospital in Mieres later treated the ongoing harassment and threats (Europa Press).