Two youth suspects cleared of charges, two remain for trial in Torrevieja case
In a decision by a Provincial Court, charges against two of four young men, aged nineteen to twenty-two, were temporarily dropped in connection with an alleged group sexual assault on an eighteen-year-old Scandinavian visitor in Torrevieja last September. One of the acquitted individuals had already been released on parole after a brief detention, while the other remains in custody in Fontcalent for nine months before a recent release following repeated defense motions and prosecution requests. The other two defendants are currently in preventive detention and will face trial as co-authors of the alleged assault. The crime carries a potential sentence of up to twelve years in prison.
Attorney José Luis Sánchez Calvo represents the acquitted defendants and is pursuing a civil claim against the state to secure compensation for his client’s nine months in prison. The order, issued by the Seventh Division of the Elche-based court on June 15, addresses the dismissal of two investigated individuals for failing to prove guilt and approves the release status of those still imprisoned. At the same time, the Torrevieja Education Court No. 1 accepted the opening of oral proceedings for the remaining two suspects.
Images accompanying this report show four youths at the time of their arrest while dining in Torrevieja. The events unfolded between the night of September 7 and the early hours of September 8, when the case was formally opened for investigation by Court No. 1 in Torrevieja after a report from a local bar near the marina. A young tourist and one of the suspects who has since been acquitted were observed together walking to the visitor’s apartment, where the sequence allegedly began during a vacation by the sea.
Once inside the apartment, the reported sequence included consensual sexual activity that ended with a shift in circumstances, as another co-defendant allegedly entered the room and forced relations against the tourist’s will. A third young man also entered the space, acting in defiance of the victim’s objections. The young woman expressed distress and sought to retreat to her belongings, but the group allegedly pressed on, urging the victim to endure a few more minutes before leaving. The situation reportedly escalated as the first participant re-entered to continue the encounter, despite the victim’s refusals.
Crime partner
In the apartment, a fourth man who did not participate directly in the sexual acts was nonetheless detained by the Civil Guard for failing to assist the victim. The court found that the injuries sustained by the young woman required medical attention following the alleged assault.
Compensation efforts and ongoing legal strategy
Sánchez Calvo, counsel for the two detained defendants who have been acquitted, pressed for financial redress on behalf of his clients during the proceedings. He argued that in one of the cases the defense claimed the sexual activity had been consensual, a position the victim reportedly acknowledged in interviews with investigators. The court thus accepted that the individual in question did not participate and did not know what had happened to the tourist. The four suspects, all of whom originally resided in France and were visiting Torrevieja for vacation, were identified by the Civil Guard roughly twenty-four hours after the complaint was filed. Multiple violations were alleged as a result of the investigation.
Earlier reporting suggested that the victim provided some identifying details about the attackers but could not supply phone numbers. She did, however, describe overhearing statements by the suspects about “training” and “water skiing,” a detail that aided investigators in tracing the men to a nearby jet-ski rental facility at the time of the incident. The Civil Guard subsequently traced the group to a local lodging and detained them while they dined at a resort in Torrevieja.
The court’s decision emphasizes that the case remains active for two defendants who will stand trial for alleged sexual assault, with further testimony and evidence to be reviewed in the upcoming proceedings. The legal process continues to unfold as judges weigh the statements, medical reports, and the alleged sequence of events that led to the charges.
In line with the court’s orders, the case now moves to oral proceedings for the two suspects who remain under investigation. The proceedings will determine each defendant’s responsibility based on the presented evidence and testimonies, while the two acquitted individuals await potential civil remedies connected to their provisional detention period. The overarching question remains the extent of the alleged acts and the role each individual played in the events that occurred during that September night in Torrevieja.