The lessons are over. Pablo gets into his father’s car. They are returning home after leaving school in Cáceres. When you arrive at the garage, in the middle of the street, seven third-year ESO kids are waiting for you on the sidewalk. It’s three in the afternoon. Suddenly, the teenagers start insulting Pablo:
“Son of a bitch! You’re fucking gay!”
The vehicle brakes suddenly. Pablo’s father immediately gets out of the car. The minors, far from stopping their attitude, continue with the curses, standing up to him. In an arrogant and provocative tone, they insist:
«Oh, how scary, the father is coming.
Pablo’s father returns to the vehicle. No. It doesn’t fit in the garage. He sets off and immediately goes to a National Police station to file a complaint against these teenagers. The scene took place just over a year ago, on October 21, 2024.
This Wednesday, The newspaper of Extremadura advanced the sentence, to which the newspaper EL PAÍS also had access. Four minors were sentenced as co-authors of a crime against moral integrity, eight months of socio-educational tasks and a ban on approaching Pablo with a distance of less than 50 meters. Not even at home. Not even at his school. Not even in the places I frequent. Nor communicate with him for a year. The sentence is final.
Pablo is not called Pablo, but that name was chosen to protect his privacy. His case was handled by the Abogados Corbillo law firm in Cáceres. Lawyer Rafael Corbillo says by phone that the minor’s father contacted him two weeks after going to the police station. The sentence reflects a “total hell” that began in 2021, when the boys were 11 years old and in the same class at a school in Cáceres.
Three years of daily harassment
The proven facts contained in the sentence speak of “constant daily harassment” for three years. In the first, second and third of ESO. With insulting, demeaning and insulting expressions of mockery such as “bald, son of a bitch, bald bastard, earth on that man’s bald head, you are subnormal, an imbecile, fucking gay, you are worthless, your father will die”.
They slapped him. Pushing. Trips. This caused the rest of his classmates to react by ignoring him. So much so that he was also expelled from the classroom’s WhatsApp group. They didn’t allow him to participate in team sports. And if he ever did, they would constantly yell at him about how bad it was.
I was isolated. Pablo, described as having high abilities, has changed his attitude at home. I didn’t want to go to school. He told his mother to come get him before the end of class because of the distress he was experiencing. In court he spoke of “total hell”. The harassment wasn’t just in the classroom. Even in exchanges. If he left to go to the bathroom, his school supplies were taken away and hidden. I didn’t get it back until days later. They also extorted him. They asked him for money in exchange for their return.
During recess he had to interact with students younger than him. «However», we read in the established facts of the sentence, «he continually received insults from the four minors». The harassment also occurred outside of school. They were waiting for it to hit him. He told his mother to come get him.
The parents decided to change Pablo’s center for the 2024/2025 academic year with the intention of putting an end to the harassment. It wasn’t like that.
Last spring, every time the four minor bullies met Pablo at the park, or with his new friends, and even with his grandparents, they addressed him “with the same offensive terms to humiliate him in front of his classmates.” Furthermore, when they found out about the new center he was going to, they were there waiting for him “to continue with their teasing”. The latest incident occurred on October 21, 2024, when Pablo and his father were returning home.
Now, a year later, Pablo is different. At the trial, according to his lawyer, he felt supported. He knew how to defend himself. Explain what you have suffered in these three years. The four minor molesters acknowledged the facts. “He’s doing extraordinarily well,” says the lawyer. “He feels justice has been done.”
Telephone 028 assists victims of LGBTIphobia 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Also known as the Rainbow Phone, it is an anonymous, free, confidential and accessible information and assistance service for victims of hate crimes and discrimination. Also, you can contact by email (028-online@igualdad.gob.es) or connect via online chat.
