Eduard Paris, a former member of the Barcelona castellers, has admitted to having sexually abused nine minors from his 'colla' under the pretext of giving them massages. The accused has reached an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office, has admitted the facts and has accepted a sentence of ten and a half years in prison, which, however, he will not serve since each of the nine crimes separately does not exceed two years in prison. jail. During the hearing, which lasted just half an hour and was held this Monday at the Barcelona Court, four of the nine victims confirmed their complaints and once the hearing was over they asked the accused to apologize, something the accused did not do. has done. The prosecution requested a sentence of 39 years in prison for him but has agreed to reduce it to ten and a half years after the agreement reached with the accused. The public ministry has taken into account that it deposited 54,000 euros in court to compensate the victims, at a rate of 6,000 euros each and with the prohibition of communicating with them for a period of five years. The defense of the accused will ask that his sentence be suspended - and therefore not go to prison - and the prosecution will not oppose it.
The case generated a great commotion in the casteller world due to the relationship of trust that exists between the members of the group and which on this occasion was violated. Eduard Paris was a veteran member of the group to which he had belonged for more than 20 years, even becoming cap de colla and president. At the time of his arrest, in November 2020, he was a “technician for children members of the Colla.” He is accused of having sexually assaulted nine underage girls, between 7 and 17 years old, between 2014 and 2019, whom he invited to his house after a performance or rehearsal under the pretext that he knew how to give massages and took the opportunity to touching their intimate areas or rubbing their genitals against the victims. “He also recommended that they stay in their panties and t-shirts, telling them to remove their pants and bras in order to be more comfortable and to be able to more easily visualize and touch their anatomy,” the prosecutor says in his letter. On one occasion, the accused even masturbated with the minors after touching them with the excuse of a massage while the victims pretended to be asleep.
During the hearing there were moments of tension with those affected. The accused has placed himself behind a screen to avoid visual confrontation and avoid the re-victimization of those affected, although on leaving the room they have bumped into their aggressor, which has caused moments of tension and shouting.
The Castellers of Barcelona have stated this morning in a statement that once the sentence is final the Colla Board will proceed to the definitive expulsion of Eduard Paris. They remember that it was the entity itself that brought the case to the attention of the prosecutor's office in 2019 when they had indications that one of its members had abused underage girls. “We contacted the Functional Unit for Child Abuse (UFAM) of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital to refer these possible cases to specialists, we contacted the Vicki Bernadet Foundation to receive advice regarding the actions to be taken. And when UFAM considered that there were indications to believe that these people had been victims of abuse, we acted ex officio by reporting the case to the Prosecutor's Office," they emphasize. In 2021, the Castellers of Barcelona presented the first protocol against child sexual abuse in the casteller world to prevent this type of situation.
