- A man in Spain is acquitted of the rape of a 12-year-old girl
- The court ruled that their sexual relations were just a part of gypsy culture
- This comes after another man convicted of raping a minor had his sentence reduced.
A Spanish court has acquitted a man who raped a 12-year-old girl after ruling his relationships were just a part of Romani culture.
On Tuesday, the court in Ciudad Real, in central Spain, took into account the sociocultural context of the gypsy ethnic group to reduce the penalty 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 framework of a romantic relationship,” adding that the two were “close in age and maturity.”
The girl was first discovered to be pregnant after an examination by a doctor, who alerted authorities, leading to the man’s arrest.
Prosecutors had asked for an 11-year sentence, but the court ruled acquittal.
On Tuesday, the court in Ciudad Real, in central Spain, took into account the sociocultural context of the gypsy ethnic group to reduce the penalty for sexual assault and abuse of a minor by a 20-year-old man.
The age of consent in Spain is 16 years old, which means that anyone under age cannot give consent to have sexual relations. However, the court ruled that the man should benefit from the legal exception.
The acquittal is the latest in a series of sentences in which judges have taken into account the customs of part of Spain’s Roma population when addressing cases of sexual assault on minors.
On Monday, just one day before the Ciudad Real sentencing, the Provincial Court of León reduced the sentence of a gypsy who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor. RTVE reported.
Although the anonymous man got her pregnant on three occasions when she was between 12 and 15 years old, the court concluded that in ‘gypsy culture, couple unions occur at very early ages’, a circumstance that acted as a mitigating circumstance.
He was sentenced to only 11 years.
The victim, who is also Romani, told the León court that it was normal for a 12-year-old girl 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, reached a deal to reduce the sentence.
Sara Giménez (pictured), general director of the Secretariado Gitano Foundation in Spain, said the recent sentences promote a “negative image” of the Roma people.
Beatriz Carrillo, general director of non-discrimination and anti-racism at Spain’s Ministry of Equality, called the León court’s ruling on X “shameful.”
‘Moreover, (the sentence) alludes to an alleged non-existent custom of mitigating the penalty. The penal code does not exclude the guardianship and protection of Gypsy minors, otherwise it would be defending that abusing, attacking or raping Gypsy girls has few legal consequences,’ he wrote on the social platform.
Sara Giménez, general director of the Secretariado Gitano Foundation in Spain, said Wednesday that the recent rulings promote a “negative image” of the Gypsy people that “does not correspond to the reality of Gypsies today.”
According to the Secretariado Gitano Foundation, around 750,000 gypsies live in Spain.