Last week, the judge of Courtroom 2 of the Women’s Violence Section of the Alicante Court of First Instance ordered the release of a 22-year-old man who had been arrested by the National Police for sexually assaulting and repeatedly beating an escort with whom he had set up a sexual encounter at a property in Alicante. The judge gave this order since the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not ask that the detainee, whose lawyers are Juan Antonio Espinosa Vaño and Natalia Montilla, be held in jail.
The National Police had already caught the arrested man engaging in similar activities. From 2022 to 2023, the National Police detained him two or three times for sexually assaulting his ex-partner, who was a 16-year-old minor under guardianship.
The Violent Crime Group of the National Police in Alicante said in their assessment that this young man is dangerous because of his past and the violence he employed in the most recent event he is accused of.
Complaint not ratified
After the court tried to reach the victim to have her ratify the allegation but was unsuccessful, the prosecution did not ask for his imprisonment. The inmate said that the victim’s claims of assault were false and that the sexual contact was “consensual and paid.” A restraining order was granted against the suspect as a safety measure. This order forbids him from contacting the victim in any way.
The events that were reported happened approximately at 4:00 a.m. on February 8th in a storage area of a building in the Pla neighbourhood of Alicante. The victim, a 24-year-old woman, told the police that she advertised her escort services to men on the “Alicante Hot” website. That night, she set up a meeting with someone who had asked her if she worked for an agency, since sex workers are protected in that case.
He offered her an address after she told him she worked for herself, and she went to meet him. When she got there, a young man was waiting for her on the street. They both went to the garage and then to the storage area. At that moment, he violently seized her cell phone and pushed her into a storage facility, where he made her take off her clothes and had intercourse with her on some cardboard boxes.
The complaint says that the girl said no and was gripped hard by the neck, which left her with some bruises. She told him to leave the storage area, but he kept her there and said, “If you scream, I’ll kill you.” The person who complained said that he ripped off her clothes and hurled them to the ground, which hurt her much more. He also pulled her along the floor and hit her in the face numerous times, which made her lip swell and bleed.
She was on the ground when the sexual attack happened. After that, he escorted her outside and gave her back her phone. The young woman told the police that she didn’t go to a medical centre that night because she was afraid of being judged. She also said that she thought it wasn’t the first time the accused had acted this way, since a few days later he tried to contact a friend through the same website to warn her about what he had done to her.
Ten days after the event, the complaint was made, and officers from the Violent Crime container and the Scientific Police went to the storage container to look around. There, evidence was gathered and is now waiting for more analysis. Last Monday, March 2nd, police caught the suspect, who lives in the same building, and took him to court in Alicante.
