Man accused of sexually assaulting woman in Malaga airport bathroom is declared innocent

A man who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman he had just met in a bathroom at Malaga airport in August 2020 has been declared innocent by the Malaga High Court.
The Malaga High Court has acquitted a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman he had just met in a bathroom at Malaga airport in August 2020. The public prosecutor had requested a six-year prison sentence for the man. According to the accusation made against him, the man had begun talking to another passenger who was waiting for a plane, had a drink with her and accompanied her to the door of the men’s bathroom, where he “grabbed her by the arm”, forced her to enter and assaulted her.
After the trial, the Court ruled that it had “not been proven that the girl expressed her opposition to having relations with him, nor that he did not put an end to the act when she said she did not want to”.
The Court considers it proven that both parties showed “a very affectionate attitude” toward one another before going to the bathroom and that the woman was “aware that the defendant’s intention was to have sexual relations with her in that place as he had told her before going in”.
The complainant maintained her accusation at the trial, but she added elements that she had not previously stated. For example, she claimed that only when she entered the bathroom “she knew that he wanted something more”, saying that “once inside she did not want any more” but “did not know how to tell him to stop”.
“In addition to the contradictions that the witness made in the plenary session with respect to her previous statements, the lack of fluency and hesitations in her statements are significant,” said the Court.
Furthermore, the woman’s medical report states that “she did not present any type of injury in the perineal area”, and footage from the airport cameras indicates that she entered the bathroom voluntarily and “at no time” appears to reject the man’s advances.
Based on this information, the Court considers that the man should be presumed innocent and has therefore acquitted him of the crime of which he had been accused.
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