A Motril man now faces 11 years in prison and an additional 10 of supervised release after a lower-court's sentence was confirmed at an appeals hearing of the Andalusian Supreme Court (TSJA).

This is in addition to a 12-year restraining order prohibiting him from approaching or communicating with the minor and a ban on any activity involving direct contact with minors.

With this ruling, the TSJA rejected the appeal filed by the defendant, who alleged a lack of evidence and a violation of the presumption of innocence.

The appeal judges, however, considered that the testimony of the victim — who was just a child when the events occurred — had full credibility. The defence failed to provide any evidence capable of weakening this statement or offering an alternative explanation of what happened.

Before reaching this point, the legal proceedings relied almost entirely on the account of the minor, whose testimony was taken after she complained of physical discomfort days after a weekend spent at her grandparents’ house. It was then that, naturally and without any pressure, she confided in her mother about what she had experienced.

That weekend in 2016, the girl — who was only 5-years old at the time — had spent a few days at the family home where her father and her uncle, the now-convicted man, also lived. At an unspecified moment, the man offered to read her a story so he could be alone with her in a bedroom. According to the ruling, it was in this context that the abuse occurred, and it was not an isolated incident. The accused also asked her to keep quiet about what had happened to avoid supposed consequences for both of them.

(News: Velez de Benaudalla, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Child Abuse, Appeals Court, Sentence Confirmed, Jail Sentence

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