EIGHT men accused of raping a British teenager in Magaluf face 150 years behind bars if convicted of the horror assault.
An 18-year-old tourist was staying at the BH Mallorca Resort when she was repeatedly raped from 7:30 pm on August 14, 2023.
SolarpixEight men have been accused of raping and sexually assaulting a British tourist in Magaluf last year[/caption]
SolarpixSeven of the men are French nationals while the other is Swiss[/caption]
Spanish public prosecutors announced in an indictment made public on Wednesday that they are seeking individual jail sentences of between 18 and 20 years for each of the men.
If convicted, this sentencing would total 151 years in jail.
Reports at the time of the attack said three of the suspects met the teenager hours earlier while partying in Magaluf.
One of these men had allegedly entered a hotel corridor after “sexually attacking” the teenager to urge strangers coming back from nights out to have “free sex” with the alleged victim.
At least five of the suspects took turns raping the woman while the other three sexually assaulted her, the investigating judge concluded after an investigation, according to the Majorcan newspaper Diario de Mallorca.
All of the men, seven French nationals and one Swiss national were arrested last year and are expected to remain behind bars until their trial.
Two of the suspects, charged earlier this year following a lengthy investigation, were held abroad on a European Arrest Warrant and extradited.
Six were detained in Majorca.
The eight men were aged between 18 and 26 when they were arrested.
Wednesday’s 14-page indictment revealed more harrowing details about the sickening crimes the men are accused of carrying out.
The document laying out the prosecution’s case supports initial reports of the incident, pointing to the alleged humiliating treatment of the Brit.
It claims that six of the suspects went to a room where one of them was staying and met another two men and a roommate who were already inside with the teenager.
The prosecution says: “There, the accused men, during approximately half an hour, aware of the semi-conscious state the young woman was in and at one point seeing she had fallen in a state of unconsciousness and taking advantage of the closed room she had been taken into, stripped her naked leaving her with only her bra on.
“They then carried out different sexual acts on her, acting by common consent and without her consent.”
Statement from the BH Mallorca Resort
A spokesman for the hotel said in a statement at the time of the alleged incident:
“The BH Mallorca Resort deeply regrets what has happened and would like to manifest its firm and forceful repudiation of the alleged sexual attack that occurred in the early hours of Monday, August 14 at the hotel.
“The hotel also wants to demonstrate its solidarity with the alleged victim of this aggression.
“We are cooperating fully with the Civil Guard and its investigators in everything they consider to be necessary.
“This hotel ratifies through this statement its commitment to the condemnation of all types of sexual attacks that affect peoples’ dignity and physical integrity.
“Behaviour that undermines those rights has no place in this establishment.”
It claims that she was raped in all manner of ways, and spat on, as well as being “hit and smacked on her bottom.”
The indictment goes on to detail how the woman was surrounded by the gang as they shouted insults at her while they carried out the alleged crimes.
Many of the insults prosecutors say the men yelled at her are unsuitable to write, but one of the tamer ones highlighted is: “He is going to get his six-metre pistol out.”
And another: “Today we’re going to have a good time.”
The prosecution goes on to say: “The accused men, each one with a mobile phone, throughout the actions previously described, recorded several videos focusing on the young woman’s private parts in which they appeared forcing her to carry out sexual acts.”
It accuses two of the men of sending the recordings from their phones and sharing them on Snapchat in boasts about their actions while their alleged victim was still “semi-unconscious or unconscious.”
One of the suspects stands accused of filming 14 videos lasting 170 seconds, and another of filming five videos lasting 142 seconds.
After the alleged violence, a security guard at the hotel found the British teenager sobbing on the floor in the lobby.
He had just come in for his morning shift and described the police response at the time as very quick and efficient.
During a medical examination after the alleged incident, bruises were found on her arms which were believed to have been caused by her alleged rapists holding her down.
SolarpixIf convicted, the men face a collective sentence of up to 151 years behind bars[/caption]
SolarpixThe British teenager was allegedly in and out of consciousness during the attack that left her cut and bruised[/caption]
She also suffered a cut to her chest.
The charges the men face include five counts of rape involving two or more men simultaneously and “particularly degrading and humiliating intimidation and violence.”
There are also charges of sexual assault without penetration, mistreatment, and privacy crimes relating to the publication of mobile phone videos.
The men have been identified by the prosecution as primary perpetrators of rape or accomplices who knowingly, voluntarily and with common intent united in the commission of the crimes.
The prison sentences public prosecutors are demanding on conviction range from four to 15 years for the most serious of the crimes.
Prosecutors also want £83,000 given in compensation for their alleged victim if convicted as charged.
A date for the trial has not yet been set, but it is expected to take place next year.
A lawyer acting for the teenager is also due to ‘privately prosecute’ the eight suspects in a case which will run parallel to the state prosecution in the same courtroom in the Majorcan capital Palma.
His indictment has yet to be submitted to the courts.
POLICE INVESTIGATION
After the incident involving the British teenager, the BH Mallorca Resort said it was cooperating fully with the authorities.
The “complex” investigation into the alleged incident was closed following the eighth arrest, the Civil Guard in Majorca confirmed at the time.
A spokesperson said: “Officers saw early on the complexity of the investigation, as the alleged aggressors didn’t form part of the same group of friends but encouraged by other participants, had allegedly joined the group action in sporadic acts, meaning no type of relationship existed between them.”
Six of the men have been held in police custody and remanded in prison since the day of the alleged attack.
The investigation then focused on identifying the two other men who were believed to have been involved.
The Civil Guard revealed that once they had been identified, it was found that the two men had boarded a flight to Baden-Baden in Germany to reach their homes in the Strasbourg area.
European Arrest Warrants were issued to prevent them from escaping justice.
The force spokesperson said: “On Sunday, August 20 2023, the French police confirmed they arrested one of them in the French locality of Scherwiller before subsequently confirming a second arrest at Basilea Mulhouse Freiburg Airport in France, when that suspect was trying to take a flight to Turkey to avoid detention.”
It was also claimed the first of the Magaluf gang-rape suspects was held after Spanish police got him to answer the ‘stolen’ mobile phone of the British teenager.
The French youngster picked up the phone and then went with two other men to the lobby of the hotel where the alleged attack took place.
There he was met unaware they would be met by the teenager and detectives assisting her, Majorcan newspaper Ultima Hora reported in the days after the incident.
All three were arrested on the spot before the other three suspects were located over the following hours after the 18-year-old gave police their descriptions.
SolarpixA date for the trial has not yet been set[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
