The case began with prosecutors seeking up to twenty-six years in prison for each parent for attempted murder of their month-old daughter. It concluded with a suspended two-year term for both parents, meaning no confinement was required. The offense was downgraded to grave injuries, influenced by two mitigating factors. The decisive factor was the payment of civil damages totaling 77,100 euros, a point noted in court records.
They Took Her to a Health Center Claiming She Had Mucus
These events, reported at the time by a regional newspaper, unfolded in late November 2018 in Torrent, Valencia. On the morning of the 27th, the now-convicted couple brought their month-old daughter to the local health center, claiming she had mucus. The truth was far harsher. The child presented with a skull fracture and was urgently referred to Valencia General Hospital, and from there to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at La Fe Hospital. Court records indicate that the child’s condition was grave and required immediate intervention.
The infant experienced seizures, facial bruising, internal bleeding, and retinal damage. The forensic report from the Valencia Institute of Legal Medicine concluded that a traumatic brain injury with a bilateral parietal fracture and extensive brain hemorrhages resulted from a violent traumatic mechanism that could have proven fatal. Court records indicate that this was the assessment at the time.
The girl, who will turn six this month, has recovered to some extent but remains under periodic monitoring by the Neuropediatrics Service due to cerebral sequelae, including motor impairments and the need for speech therapy. Court records indicate these ongoing needs and follow-up care.
The Public Prosecutor initially sought a penalty of twenty-six years in prison for each parent for attempted murder, the maximum available given the severity of the events, which, if the child had died, could have carried a life sentence. Court records indicate this was the original aim of the charges.
However, a plea agreement reached by the father’s lawyer, Miguel Ángel Sampedro, and with the prosecutors and the Generalitat’s attorney reducing their accusations, led to a resolution that did not require prison time for either parent. Court records indicate the plea shaped the final outcome.
They were convicted as authors of a grave injuries offense with the mixed aggravating factor of kinship and the mitigating factors of delays in the proceedings and a highly qualified form of damage repair, after having paid civil liability totaling 77,100 euros for the damages and sequelae suffered by their daughter. Court records indicate this was the final legal posture.
Polygraph Test
Regarding the delays, the penalty reflected the time spent on the investigation, with the case taking almost six years to reach trial due to circumstances not attributable to the defendants. Court records indicate that the delay benefited the defendants in part. This delay was partly generated by the mother’s defense, which pursued appeals and introduced evidence rarely seen in trials, including an alleged polygraph test that the court admitted. The test featured the mother denying involvement in her daughter’s injuries, according to court records.
The sentence, pronounced in open court, imposes a prohibition on communication and a stay of 200 meters for three years from their daughter, who was declared legally abandoned and has been under the Generalitat’s guardianship since November 2018. She is currently in temporary foster care with her maternal grandparents, according to court records.
The court suspended the execution of the prison term, as it did not exceed two years and the defendants had no prior criminal record, with the condition that in two years they commit no offense and remain properly located. The two convicted, who separated after the incident, will not spend a single day behind bars for the grave injuries the facts proven say they caused to their newborn daughter, according to court records.