Valencia Inquiries and Email Review: A Brief Overview
Valencia’s court of inquiry No. 15 examined the actions of a group tied to the Ministry of Equality, led by Mónica Oltra. The inquiry revealed that five-year prison sentences were handed to several associates by Oltra’s former husband, with appeals pending in higher courts. The timeline under review stretched from February 20 to March 23 in 2017 and from July 5 to December 1 in the same year. A claim was made that a former minor involved in the case bore responsibility for a crime, while an analysis of a large volume of emails did not uncover wrongdoing by Oltra’s cabinet.
During the period studied, 16 individuals were under investigation. The only communication uncovered involved exchanges between the director of a children’s center and Oltra’s then-private secretary, specifically concerning the case at hand. Analysis of more than 48,000 emails showed that the messages, as noted by investigators, did not demonstrate clear knowledge or intent to commit a crime. In many messages, the content aligned with internal reporting deadlines and updates on the investigation, and there appeared to be no facts suggesting criminal behavior.
The origin of this particular investigation dates back to October 25, 2022, when emails shared among vice-presidential cabinet members and the Department for Equality were scrutinized. The inquiry, represented by a leader aligned with España 2000 and Vox, and with supporters from Gobierna-te, targeted claims that an abused minor had been brought into the autonomous community following a complaint. The matter involved multiple parties and accusations connected to Oltra’s private life, though the sequence of events indicates that the alleged abuse concerns date years back.
Within Instruction Court 15, the focus was on 16 individuals to determine their involvement in handling the informative file or confidential information about the young ward under the Generalitat’s care who was alleged to have been harassed by a supervisor connected to Oltra’s husband. The proceedings sought to clarify whether any unauthorized access to sensitive information occurred and whether that access had any bearing on the case under review.
However, only two of the sixteen individuals under investigation produced emails that were usable for review. As in earlier police documentation concerning the emails of Oltra’s collaborators, statements presented in political settings and judicial bodies indicated that no emails were exchanged about the alleged sexual abuse of the minor guardian under Oltra’s care until 2017. The subsequent reports did not provide evidence of criminal conduct by the individuals under investigation, though they kept the matter politically and legally significant for the time being. [Citation: Court records; official inquiry materials; judicial statements]