The Supreme Court lowers the sentence from 9 years to 4 years and 6 months for a pedophile in application of the "only yes is yes" law

The high court justifies the reduction by insisting that the new norm is "more beneficial" for the convicted person

MADRID, 15 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Supreme Court (TS) has reduced the sentence from 9 years to 4 years and 6 months in prison in application of the so-called "only yes is yes" law of a man who groped the buttocks of 4 girls under 16 years old and another of legal age while skating on an ice rink in Vitoria.

The high court reported this Thursday that the Criminal Chamber has reduced the sentence for the convicted person because the court ruling established that the defendant should be given the minimum sentence for the insignificance of the touching.

Specifically, the TS has detailed, the Provincial Court of Álava first and the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country later, sentenced him to 9 years in prison for 4 crimes of sexual abuse of minors and another of sexual abuse of an adult.

This minimum penalty before the reform of Organic Law 10/2022 was set at two years in prison for each of the four crimes of sexual abuse of minors and one year in prison for the crime of sexual abuse of an adult.

"Now, the new crime of sexual abuse of a minor includes a provision in its second paragraph that did not exist before and that allows, in less serious cases, to lower the sentence by one degree," says the Supreme Court, which adds that this is what has been applied to the convicted person "when the new legislation is more beneficial for him".

Likewise, the Supreme Court explains that in accordance with article 76.1 of the Penal Code, the maximum serving of the sentence in this case is reduced by half. "Before it was six years (triple the highest penalty, which was two years) and now it will be three years, as it is triple the most serious penalty, which in application of the reform is set at one year," he adds. .

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court has communicated the ruling to the Provincial Court of Álava so that it decides what is appropriate in relation to the personal situation of the appellant because he will soon serve 3 years in prison for these events. The full ruling, the Supreme Court has pointed out, will be known in the coming days.

It should be remembered that this is the second time that the high court has ruled in relation to the 'only yes is yes' law. The first case in which the Supreme Court ruled was in the 'Arandina case', establishing that it is "obligatory" to apply the aforementioned law in all cases because it is "more favorable" to the prisoner.

The Criminal Chamber has sentenced two former Arandina players to 9 years in prison for the crime of sexual assault on a minor. This means raising the sentences of both convicts --from the 4 and 3 years that had been set by the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL)-- after eliminating the mitigation that had been appreciated due to the closeness of age and maturity between the convicts. and victim. The Prosecutor's Office requested 10 years in prison for both of them, but the court has left it one year less for the application of the 'only yes is yes' law.

The Supreme Court explained in that ruling that "the accommodation of the sentence to the new penal text after LO 10/2022 is mandatory because the retroactivity of the criminal law that is more favorable to the accused is applied by virtue of a more beneficial later law, as in this case it has happened".

In this sense, the magistrates also pointed out that the process of reviewing sentences reaches "not only those that are in the execution phase, but also those that are in the sentencing phase, either in full completion of oral trial, either by virtue of a resolution of appeal or appeal, assessing whether the penalty to be imposed may be more beneficial".