On trial for sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl in Ibiza and attempting to do the same to a five-year-old, who struck him in the genitals to stop him

The Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands is holding a pre-trial hearing this Wednesday (12.30 pm) for a man from Ibiza accused of abusing two minors in a house on the island. The incidents took place in a property in Sant Carles between 2016 and 2019, according to the indictment. The man, who is currently 36 years old and was between 26 and 30 at the time of the alleged abuse, is charged with two counts of sexual assault against a child under the age of 16, one of which is a continuing offence. The prosecution is seeking five and three years’ imprisonment for these offences.

According to the indictment, the accused took advantage of “the relationship of trust he had with the minors” to, “with lewd intent”, at the girls’ own home, “on one occasion when he was left alone with them, take them to the room where they slept and encourage them to take off their clothes, whilst touching their private parts”.

Blow to the genitals in self-defence

This was not the only occasion on which the abuse allegedly took place: “On another occasion, the defendant, with the same intent, allegedly attempted to touch his underage niece over her clothes, but failed to do so, as the girl struck him in the genitals in self-defence”. Although the indictment does not specify this, the initials of the two victims’ surnames suggest they are the defendant’s nieces.

Similarly, the prosecution’s document states that the man “suffers from moderate mental retardation, which partially impairs his intellectual and volitional capacities”. ‘Deficiencies in reasoning, deduction and abstraction lead to a deficit in the ability to understand and recognise the significance of his actions and to act in accordance with that understanding,’ the document continues, noting also that ‘impulsivity or a lack of control over instincts leads to greater difficulty in controlling sexual urges, as he lacks the appropriate mental mechanisms for inhibition and sublimation’.

In addition to the prison sentences, the indictment seeks compensation of €9,000 and €6,000 for the two girls ‘for the moral and psychological harm suffered, which affects the minors’ freedom and developmental progress’.