- A man in Spain is acquitted for the rape of a 12-year-old girl
- Court ruled that their sexual relations were just a part of Gypsy culture
- This comes after another man guilty of raping a minor had his sentence reduced
A Spanish court has acquitted a man who raped a 12-year-old girl after it ruled that their relations were just a part of the Romani culture.
On Tuesday, the court in Ciudad Real in central Spain took into account the socio-cultural context of the Gypsy ethnic group to reduce the sentence for sexual assault and abuse of a minor by a 20-year old man.
This resulted in the perpetrator, who left his 12-year-old victim pregnant with twins, being acquitted.
The ruling held that the relationship was ‘always consensual within the frame-work of a romantic relationship’, adding that the two were ‘close in age and maturity.’
The girl was first found to be pregnant after an examination by a doctor, who alerted authorities, leading to the man’s arrest.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 11 years, but the court ruled to acquit.
On Tuesday, the court in Ciudad Real in central Spain took into account the socio-cultural context of the Gypsy ethnic group to reduce the sentence for sexual assault and abuse of a minor by a 20-year old man
The age of consent in Spain is 16, meaning anyone younger cannot consent to sex. However, the court ruled that the man should benefit from the legal exception.
The acquittal is the latest in a series of rulings in which judges taken into consideration customs followed by some of Spain’s Roma population when dealing with cases of sexual assault concerning minors.
On Monday, just a day before the Ciudad Real ruling, the Provincial Court of Leon reduced a sentence for a gypsy man who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor, RTVE reported.
Although the unnamed man impregnated her three times when she was between the ages of 12 and 15, the court concluded that in ‘gypsy culture, couple unions occur at very early ages’, a circumstance that acted as a mitigating factor.
He was sentenced to just 11 years.
The court in Leon was told by the victim, who is also Romani, that it was normal for a 12-year-old to have sexual relations with an adult in her culture.
Prosecutors, who originally sought a 37-year sentence for the man on three counts of rape, agreed on a plea bargain deal for a reduced sentence.
Sara Gimenez (pictured), the general director of the Gypsy Secretariat Foundation in Spain, said the recent rulings promoted a ‘negative image’ of the Roma people
Beatriz Carrillo, the director general of non-discrimination and anti-racism within Spain’s equality ministry called the court in Leon’s ruling ‘shameful’ on X.
‘Even more so [the ruling] is alluding to an alleged non-existent custom to mitigate the sentence. The penal code does not exclude the protection and protection of gypsy minors, otherwise it would be defending that abusing, attacking or raping to gypsy girls has few legal consequences,’ she wrote on the social platform.
Sara Gimenez, the general director of the Gypsy Secretariat Foundation in Spain, on Wednesday said the recent rulings promoted a ‘negative image’ of the Roma people that ‘does not correspond to the reality of Gypsies today.’
According to the Gypsy Secretariat Foundation, there are around 750,000 Roma living in Spain.