The Barcelona Court of Appeal has sentenced a Mossos d'Esquadra officer, a member of Catalonia's regional police, to 21 years in prison for sexually assaulting and humiliating a young woman with a severe disability. The victim was the girlfriend of the officer's stepson, and the court found that he exploited both her trust and her mental disability.

The ruling matters beyond the courtroom because it concerns abuse inside a family environment, not an attack by a stranger. For residents in Manresa and elsewhere in Catalonia, the case also raises direct community safety concerns about the misuse of authority and trust around disabled people who depend on family, carers and institutions for support.

According to the court, the officer was convicted of a pornography offence committed by exploiting the young woman's trust and of a continuous sexual assault offence committed by abusing her mental disability.

The case was reported by ARA and other Spanish media on Friday 10 July. The officer was based in Manresa, according to reporting from El Mundo and earlier court coverage cited by other outlets.

The victim's identity in the case

The victim is a young woman with a severe disability who had been in a relationship with the officer's stepson. The two young people had met at a centre for people with disabilities, and their families spent time together regularly.

That contact was frequent enough that, according to the court account reported by ARA, the victim and the accused lived in the same home for about half of each week. The judges found that the officer used that closeness to commit the offences.

  • The victim was the officer's stepson's girlfriend.
  • She had a recognised mental disability.
  • She spent extensive time with the officer's family and lived with them for roughly half of each week.

What prosecutors said happened between June and August 2023

Earlier reporting on the prosecution case stated that the alleged abuse took place between June and August 2023. According to the prosecution account published before trial, the accused subjected the young woman to different sexual acts, including some described as humiliating.

That same prosecution case said he made her believe she had to take photographs and send him audiovisual material as part of tests to obtain a grant and entry to an academy. Prosecutors had sought 27 years in prison, a 10-year restraining and communication ban after any jail term, and EUR 60,000 in compensation.

The prosecution alleged that the accused "devised a complex plan to deceive her" and used that deception to obtain sexual images and commit the assaults.

The appeal court sentence reported on Friday was 21 years, lower than the prison term previously sought by prosecutors.

Why the case has wider significance

The case highlights the extra risk faced by women with disabilities, particularly when the alleged abuser is someone already known to them. A 2019 macro-survey by Spain's Ministry of Equality, cited in earlier reporting on sexual violence against women with disabilities, found that 40.4% of women with functional diversity had suffered some form of violence from a partner.

In this case, the court found that the officer abused a position of trust built through repeated family contact. That is a concrete warning for families, carers and support centres in Barcelona province and across Catalonia: safeguarding cannot focus only on public spaces, because risk may also come from people already inside a victim's circle.

The sentence reported on 10 July is for offences the court said involved both the exploitation of trust and the abuse of the victim's disability.

Reported by Source Text Link, elmundo.es, Laia Galià, Por Newsroom Infobae Agregar Infobae en Agrega Infobae a tus medios preferidos en Google, Público,Agencias, cronicaglobal.elespanol.com, Dani Cordero, Rebeca Carranco, Ana Rodríguez, EFE, Guillem Sánchez, lavanguardia.com, Jordi Mumbrú, Diari ARA.