Volleyball coach in Gran Canaria sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor

Section Six of the Audiencia Provincial de Las Palmas has sentenced a volleyball club coach in Gran Canaria to eight years and six months in prison after convicting him of the continuous sexual assault of a minor. According to sources consulted, the victim was a player on the team during the 2021–2022 season.

According to the ruling, the offences took place between January and June 2022, when the accused — a Portuguese national identified by the initials Rubén Miguel S. F. — was coaching the victim, who was 16 years old at the time. The court finds it proven that, during that sporting relationship, the accused sexually assaulted the victim on multiple occasions at his home, and considers the acts to constitute an offence of sexual assault with penetration, recognising the continuous nature of the offending under Article 74 of the Penal Code.

Background to the events

According to the account set out in the ruling and reported by sources consulted, the victim had come from mainland Spain and was living alone on the island after being signed by the club. In early March 2022 she visited the coach's home on several occasions to do her schoolwork, as she had no internet access in her flat. In June, according to the ruling, the teenager was unwell and went to the accused's flat, where she was assaulted while she slept.

The victim's account, reproduced in the ruling, describes how she left the property in the early hours: "I left at night, I don't remember what time, it must have been four in the morning, and when I picked up my things he came out after me — there were no buses at that hour, so I walked to the seafront promenade." The ruling also includes a remark attributed to the convicted man after the events: "I know what I've done — report me if you want."

The complaint and assessment of the evidence

The ruling holds that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to rebut the presumption of innocence. The judges highlight the consistency and persistence of the victim's account, as well as external corroborating evidence supporting her testimony.

According to sources, the victim initially did not want to report the offences. She told a friend what had happened, and it was that friend's mother, Inés Herreros — a prosecutor and member of the Consejo General del Poder Judicial — who filed the complaint. Herreros explained during the trial that she took that step because she considered the events to be serious: "I was clear that I was going to report it myself and take on that responsibility," she stated at the hearing, according to Canarias7.

The ruling pays particular attention to the victim's vulnerability: she was a minor, living alone on the island and dependent on the accused as both a sporting mentor and a personal support figure. Forensic reports included in the proceedings conclude that the young woman presents symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress and moderate anxiety — psychological harm that the court took into account when setting the civil liability.

The sentences imposed

In addition to the custodial sentence, the Audiencia has imposed nine years of supervised release and a ten-year special disqualification from exercising parental authority, guardianship, curatorship and custody. The convicted man is also prohibited from working in any profession or occupation involving regular and direct contact with minors for 15 years.

The ruling further orders the accused to pay the victim €15,000 in compensation for moral damages, and imposes a restraining order prohibiting him from coming within 500 metres of her or communicating with her by any means for 15 years.

According to El Correo Gallego, the ruling is not yet final and may be appealed before the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias.