The Provincial Court of Madrid has sentenced a priest assigned to the Madrid district of Puente de Vallecas to eleven years in prison for a continued crime of sexual assault committed against an immigrant woman in a situation of economic and social vulnerability.
According to the sentence, advanced by Europa Press, the convicted exercised as the parish priest of the church of San Pedro Regalado and San José de Calasanz since 2018 and took advantage of his position within the parish to attract immigrant women in need of economic help or accommodation.
The court considers it proven that the main victim, a Colombian woman who arrived in Spain in February 2022, went to the parish seeking help after becoming homeless. The priest offered her accommodation in a house near his own and, subsequently, began making sexual advances to her.
The Court Appreciates Exploitation of Vulnerability
The judicial resolution states that the accused accessed the home on several occasions using his own keys and committed sexual assaults against the woman. The sentence also records threats directed at the victim to prevent her from reporting the facts.
The magistrates consider it proven that the priest acted by taking advantage of the woman’s extreme vulnerability and the dependence she maintained regarding the aid managed through a religious entity.
As a consequence of the events, the victim was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Acquitted of Other Charges
The Provincial Court acquits, however, the priest of other crimes reported by three more women. The court understands that the facts reported by them—comments, insinuations, or inappropriate behaviors—do not reach sufficient criminal relevance to support a conviction.
In addition to the prison sentence, the sentence imposes on the convicted a twelve-year prohibition from approaching and communicating with the victim, ten years of supervised release after serving the sentence, and eighteen years of disqualification from working with minors.
The priest must also compensate the complainant with 40,000 euros for moral damages.