The second day of hearings for the case of the network of sexual exploitation of minors in which several businessmen from the Region are involved took place this Tuesday in the capital of Murcia. The objective of these sessions is to ratify the entry into prison and the suspension of sentences for each of the accused.
This Monday, the court confirmed that four of the convicted pedophile businessmen will not go to prison. To reach an agreement in accordance with the prosecution, those involved had to admit the alleged facts during a hearing which took place on September 11.
The first to visit this Tuesday the Criminal Chamber 2 of the Provincial Court of Murcia was Yesenia Mercedes Balladares Cusme. His defense explained that today, the accused leads a “perfectly normalized and integrated into society” life and would have health problems.
The President of the Chamber, Álvaro Castaño, declared that “the alleged and recognized facts are sufficiently serious” not to proceed with the suspension of the sentence. Balladares, for her part, made it clear that she was “repentant” and would not do it again, given the consequences of her actions: “I have never been involved in anything illegal, I dedicates myself to working in any field. est.” The court decided to postpone its decision until next Monday.
Pedophiles, victims of the media noise of the affair
The second to appear should have been Juan Martínez Fernández, known as the “undertaker” of Totana, although he did not appear at the Provincial Court, according to his defense due to “health problems” and because that his situation is complicated by the “media and social” “pressure” that this affair has brought.
Due to his absence in court, the decision on his future was postponed until Monday. The prosecution does not oppose this suspension. The Totana City Hall withdrew the honorary distinctions that had been awarded to it in the past after becoming aware of the agreement in accordance with this case.
The case of Nelly Paola Céspedes, one of those accused of her role as Madam because the plot, the third in the morning, has also been postponed until next Monday, when we can in principle know the final fate of everyone involved.
His defense suggested that it was the media hype surrounding the case that led the prosecution to want to ensure the guilt of the accused without taking into account possible compensation for the victims: “The defense does not understand that if the prosecutor intended “for my client to have served her prison sentence, why was her sentence reduced from two and a half years to two years.”
The question of reparation for victims
They also alleged that the accused had allocated 6,000 euros for the financial reparation of the victims and that “this effort had to be taken into account”, since, according to the defense, “if the reparation to the victims really mattered, why the compensation 7,000 to 1,000 euros? “My client deposited this money and cooperated.”
The Chamber understood that there was no reason to appeal the exceptional nature of the suspended sentence. We spoke of the “social reprehensibility” of the events: “We are no longer talking only about reparations to the victims, but about reparations to society and also to the judicial system. I regret that he devoted himself to prostitution, which is the worst form of violence against women, but he led six minors into prostitution. We are talking about a crime against freedom and sexual identity. Prostitution threatens the possibility of leading a full life [el ámbito sexual]”.
In this context, the accused stated that the victims “were already engaged in prostitution before [ella] I will catch them. Regarding the precautionary measures taken by the courts, which include a ban of 500 meters for each victim, the accused concluded that with so many victims, she would “have to leave Murcia”.
After the Prosecutor reminded her that she was not obliged to discuss proven facts but rather to talk about her personal situation, the accused declared that she was considering taking a “cooking course”.
Juan Peque was the last of the convicts to appear before Criminal Chamber 2 of the Provincial Court. Quickly, as if waiting for his turn to renew his DNI, he said a quick “I regret it very much” and waited patiently for the board’s decision.
As explained, the public prosecutor does not oppose the suspension and, in principle, meets all the conditions to benefit from the suspension in accordance with the provisions of article 80.3 of the Penal Code. The accused is sentenced to two 6-month prison terms.
“Juan, I think you have heard that the public prosecutor is not opposed to the provisional pardon and that he will suspend the sentence”; There is also a ban of 500 meters for the victims and the obligation to follow a sexual re-education course which they can take in Valencia, the city where they currently live.
The member of the House defended that five of the victims want to “turn the page” and that the culprits “reflect on what they did”, that “they don’t want them to go to prison” and criticized that this affair has become a public problem since, as he states, “he has doubly victimized the victims”.
The mother of one of the victims, for her part, told elDiario.es of the Region that the girls “were raped, threatened, deceived and are very affected. What do you want them to order? Let them stay on the street? Let them continue to make more girls’ lives miserable? All they needed was to free all these scoundrels who had sold my daughter to take her on a plane to I don’t know where. I wouldn’t have seen her again… and they don’t want me to go to prison. What do you want me to order?
