Salvador Cacho, a 36-year-old Mexican political science student, saw his life change in 2016 while having coffee with his aunt. He was 28 at the time and after the conversation, many memories that he had encapsulated were revealed: the scenes of sexual abuse that his uncle Felipe, brother of the aunt with whom he was talking, committed against him on several occasions, when he was a child.
The first time was touching, he says from Mexico, where he lives. “I was 5 years old in my first memory. The last time it happened, I was 14 and I had already refused, so he used force. His alleged attacker is only eight years older than him, they had a very close relationship, trust and coexistence in a united and apparently idyllic family.
After two decades of internal conflict, doubts and guilt, Salvador decided to denounce his uncle that same year, but in the middle of the process, his alleged predator fled and they ended up finding him in Spain, where they collected his statement before the National Court. waiting to see if Mexico requests his extradition and if it is carried out. For now, Judge Santiago Pedraz has released him without bail after taking away his passport and imposing the obligation to appear weekly in court, as indicated in a judicial decision of August 27, to which elDiario.es had access. The prosecution has not appealed.
“You speak when you can”
For Salvador, after that coffee with his aunt, the world collapsed on him: “I fell into depression. I gathered the strength to tell my mother, who fortunately believed me, even though she felt guilty. It was all terrible, but we must remember that the only person responsible for child sexual abuse is the one who commits it.
After realizing everything that had happened to her, Cacho gathered her courage and recounted the events of that year, with the threat of the statute of limitations for the crimes still hanging over her, as in so many other cases of child abuse. “I always say, as I said before the judge, that you have to speak when you can. And that’s when you feel safe, when you have a support network and not when the State says so or when people think you should have done so. On February 29 of this year, Salvador spoke because he could and filed his complaint in a Mexican court, to which elDiario.es had access and in which he recounts the dates and events of his uncle’s abuse, almost always using family meetings. The part that is being judged is the one that includes the episodes of aggression from 1999 to 2003.
The process of filing a complaint was not easy: “I looked for a team of lawyers, I had psychology experts, we had to look in family albums for photos that showed that we were in the same place when I said, we also looked for a friend of my attacker with whom I always went… Finally, they confirmed to me that several of the crimes committed by my uncle had not expired and I continued.”
The statute of limitations is one of the barriers to justice in child abuse cases. According to a 2023 Save The Children report, most victims wait until adulthood to disclose sexual abuse or never disclose it at all. In 8 out of 10 cases of child sexual abuse, the perpetrator is a family member or acquaintance of the child, and 96% of perpetrators have no criminal record related to sexual violence. All of these factors together make child abuse harder to detect and prosecute.
When survivors reach adulthood, are aware of what happened to them and want justice, it is sometimes too late to obtain a conviction, even if it is proven that the act was committed. Spain, for this reason, approved an organic law in 2021 so that the statute of limitations for these crimes begins to count from the moment the victim reaches the age of 35, and not from the age of 18, as was the case until then.
In Mexico, despite the fact that in 2023 a reform also extended the statute of limitations for these crimes against children, the first judge who heard Salvador’s case considered that he could no longer be tried because the deadline had passed, but Cacho is appealing. His uncle and alleged abuser had not shown up at the previous hearing. The first time, he claimed that he was in Spain to help a sister and provided the plane tickets as evidence. On another occasion, he said online. Salvador feared the worst: “At the second hearing, he did not show up, saying that the case had become a media topic and that he was afraid to go out for fear of being hurt. “I invite you to feel the fear he made me feel.”
But the appeal continued and a second judge ruled that the alleged attacker could be tried for six counts of “aggravated” rape, according to the order seen by this media outlet: “On July 12, the court issued an arrest order and said there should be a new judge, which would set the process back.
Then begins the third ordeal for Salvador, because after seeing a glimmer of hope, the authorities confirm that his uncle Felipe is not in Mexico and cannot find him. Preventive measures have been put in place for him, such as appearing in court every 15 days, the removal of his nephew and release on bail, but it has been decided that he will not enter preventive detention, contrary to the criteria of the Mexican prosecutor’s office.
Interpol Notice
On August 20, an alert was sent to Interpol, the international police, which issued a notice to all countries on August 26. The next day, by pure chance, during a routine traffic stop near the Madrid neighborhood of Fuencarral, the police stopped Felipe and, after asking him for his driver’s license, the red alert sounded. He was immediately arrested and placed at the disposal of the National Court. But, in addition to Mexican nationality, the detainee also has Spanish nationality, which could now reverse the case and leave Salvador without justice.
“That same weekend I flew to Madrid because I needed to know the extradition procedure,” he explains. The “miracle” of such a quick and informal arrest was followed by enormous legal doubts about whether the trial could take place. Efforts to continue the process are now in the hands of Mexico, which must submit an extradition request to Spain. However, the Spanish justice system also has legal protection against the aggressor, since he is also a Spanish citizen and may not approve the surrender.
“If the behavior in Spain is prescribed, which is possible because the laws are different, the most likely thing is that he will not be extradited and will be released without paying for what he did in Mexico,” says José Luis from his office. . Nasser, Salvador’s lawyer. “But it is still a crime in Mexico and the Interpol notice will remain active, so he can only be in Spain and if he leaves, he could be arrested. If he is not finally extradited, this person wanted in Mexico for child abuse would be free in Spanish territory,” he laments. elDiario.es contacted the lawyer of the alleged aggressor without receiving a response.
In this time of waiting and bureaucratic processes until the extradition is resolved, Salvador tries to help other survivors of abuse: “Many cases remain hidden, due to lack of economic capacity, lack of tools or because to get here it takes a lot of time and effort.” But we must speak out and say that men are also raped, at all socioeconomic levels, and put an end to this disgusting pattern of what they will say.
The next thing he expects is to see his uncle sitting on a bench in Mexico and “paying there, for the years that justice dictates, no more and no less, because once you discover that sewer, it changes your life and I need the crime to be closed. “I didn’t choose it, but now I have a commitment and justice must be done,” he concludes. Everything now depends on whether what happened between 1999 and 2003 and that Mexico wants to judge still constitutes a crime under Spanish law.
