The volunteer teacher at an Islamic center of worship in Vic (Barcelona) accused of alleged sexual abuse of seven boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 10 in 2016 has denied the facts before the judge, and has accused the mosque management of pressuring parents to denounce him, in what he has described as "a political montage" against him.
This is how he explained it in the second and last session of the trial before the fifth Section of the Barcelona Court, in which he only answered questions from his lawyer. The lawsuit has been seen for sentencing.
As he stated during his statement, the board of directors of the mosque is carrying out a "political montage" against him. The professor maintains that the complaint is due to the fact that years ago he opposed the fact that the son of one of its members charged "20,000 euros" for work that was for the center of worship and that the rest of the people carried out for free.
The teacher has denied kissing or abusing the children, whom he says he treated as if they were his "children". Likewise, he alleges that the parents of the little ones filed the complaint due to "pressure from the management of the mosque."
The Prosecutor's Office has confirmed its request for 42 years and 9 months in prison for the defendant, since it considers that the facts are proven in the classroom recordings that have been presented as evidence. According to the Public Ministry, the images show how the teacher takes different children, sits them on top of him, hugs them, kisses them and rubs against them.
The cameras had been placed by the mosque board in December 2015, with the teacher's knowledge, to protect minors. The center's management had incorporated the cameras as there were rumors that the teacher had "suspicious behavior". According to the Prosecutor's Office, on several occasions the man tried to cover the camera.
According to the prosecutor, in one of the recordings you can see how the man puts a bag in his pants and touches his genitals, which the defense has justified by arguing that the man suffered from urinary incontinence. In the same way, she has justified the hugs with the minors, stating that they were nothing more than "affectionate gestures".
The three forensic psychologists who made the reports on the state of the victims also declared at the session, who explained that in several cases the minors showed fear and anguish over the events they experienced.
One of the psychologists added that, in the interview with one of the minors, he told her that he was "a little afraid to explain it" to his parents in case the man "did something to him."
Regarding the victims who do not suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress, they have emphasized that it is something "usual" in the cases of young children because, if there has not been "overt violence" such as penetration, "they do not experience it as something negative because they do not have the level of understanding of adults to interpret the behavior as something sexual”.
At the beginning of the trial, the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution requested 42 years and 9 months in prison for seven crimes of sexual abuse and one crime of exhibitionism, since on one occasion the defendant allegedly touched his genitals in front of the students. However, in the turn of final conclusions, the private prosecution has reduced his sentence to 42 years and 6 months.
