He will not be aware of his psychological defects. That’s what the defense of a man who was sentenced to nine years in prison this summer for sexually assaulting a young woman with disabilities argued. These arguments apparently convinced the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (Spain) which overturned the decision of the Malaga Provincial Court by acquitting the individual, on the grounds that it was not proven that “he (reporter) expressed his opposition,” El País reported.
The appeals panel considered that these facts occurred “without him realizing that the young woman suffered from an intellectual disability, and always believed that she had the capacity to freely decide on her sexuality”.
The reporter was found to have a 66% intellectual disability and had met the man twice, when they were doing gardening work. According to the appeals panel, it was also “clear” that “the two were physically attracted to each other”, although the young woman only stated in her statement that she liked him “a little”. The defendant, who was in pre-trial detention, was released.
The court acknowledged the plaintiff’s “limitations.”
The incident occurred in January 2023 in the town of Coín, near Malaga. The man, then 26, met the young girl, then 24, on the street. He invited her to his house, on the pretext of giving her his phone number, and she accepted. He then took her to his bedroom and asked her to undress. The young woman complied and lay down on the bed. He then touched her in various places on her body.
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“We do not see how he could conclude that, in fact, the young woman did not want him, unless it could be determined that he was aware of her psychological defects and her inability to freely decide on her sexuality,” the ruling said. However, the text acknowledged noting the complainant’s “limitations” after viewing the video of her statement, which was half an hour long.
But the judge also considered that the exchanges that preceded the sexual relations were not “long enough and complex enough to (…) allow (to the defendant) to become aware of his disability (from the reporter)”. According to them, this young man who is Spanish but was born in Morocco cannot speak Spanish well, which could prevent him from detecting any anomalies in the person he is talking to.
The decision of the Andalusian High Court can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.
