Valencia High Court Upholds 35-Year Prison Term in Case Involving Sexual Abuse by Academy Owner
The High Court of Justice of the Commonwealth of Valencia has confirmed a 35-year prison sentence for a man identified as Sergio TT. He was convicted of sexually abusing eight underage students, aged 14 to 16, during lessons at a private academy located in the municipality of l’Horta. The court rejected the appeal lodged by the defendant’s defense and upheld the decision previously issued by the Third Chamber of the Valencian Provincial Court, a ruling that had already been reported by the local press in prior coverage.
The sentence details six offenses of perpetual sexual abuse against victims under the age of 16, along with two other students who had reached that age. The court noted that the defendant took advantage of the favorable conditions provided by his role as a teacher to approach and engage with the minors during instructional tasks and to exert influence on the students under his supervision. In several instances, the acts included touching the victims’ breasts and, in other cases, touching the inner thighs of a student under the pretext of taking the student’s cell phone between her legs.
The Valencian High Court (TSJCV) responded to the arguments raised by the defense by addressing each point individually. The court found no violation of the presumption of innocence, no failure to assess exculpatory evidence, no lack of motivation in the verdict, and no error in evaluating the evidence. Nevertheless, the court maintained that the proven facts described in the original sentence remained unchanged and that the defendant had not proposed any alternative interpretation of the historical narrative.
The court’s ruling states that the touching occurred during refresher classes held between 2015 and 2018 at the academy in l’Horta. It reasoned that there are multiple corroborating elements indicating the absence of objective disbelief by the victims and the persistence of the victims in the essential aspects of their statements. The psychological report submitted by the defense was reviewed, with the court noting that the defendant did not possess psychopathological characteristics typical of an abuser and did not exhibit a personality that would have prevented him from controlling his impulses. The defense argument that a classroom door being open or closed would alter the likelihood of such acts was rejected by the court.
The case further notes that the acts occurred during refresher courses conducted from 2015 to 2018 at the academy in l’Horta. The convict contended that there were simple frictions argued by the prosecution’s lawyers, Amparo Vicó and Marta Soriano. The defense claimed that a touch did not amount to the act of grabbing a breast and squeezing it, asserting that such actions were mischaracterized in the proceedings. The court’s findings remain that the actions described constitute the offenses charged, and the verdict stands as originally delivered.