The pattern repeats itself: a group of underage boys accused of jointly raping girls, also underage, with the involvement of even a child who is not criminally responsible for not even being 14 years old. It happened in 2022, almost four years ago, when six minors were arrested and accused of group rape of two girls in Burjassot (Valencia). They agreed to up to four years of internment and five years of supervised release, while the girls required psychological treatment for a diagnosis of depression and anxiety.
But the so-called Burjassot pack - whose actions caused a great impact on Valencian society at the time - is by no means the only one whose members have not reached the age of majority. The National Police arrested three teenagers on Monday who, once again, acted as a pack.
And, just like in the case of the Burjassot group, among the alleged sexual offenders this time was a 13-year-old boy and they all knew the victim. The reason: they shared a courtyard at a high school in Valencia.
However, in the case of this high school pack, there is an element that further aggravates the alleged group sexual assault that took place on February 10 in the bathrooms of a shopping center in Valencia. The young people subsequently spread the alleged rape among friends and classmates at the educational center, as confirmed by sources close to the investigation, which contributed to re-victimizing the assaulted young woman.
The three detainees by officers from the Minors Group of the Provincial Brigade of the Judicial Police of Valencia are two 14-year-old boys and another 15-year-old young man. The fourth involved in the events, the brother of one of the alleged perpetrators of the rape, is only 13 years old and, therefore, not criminally responsible.
The three arrested are accused of a crime of sexual assault with penetration and another against privacy and disclosure of secrets, according to the sources consulted, precisely due to the subsequent dissemination of the images of the sexual assault that they themselves made.
As reported by Las Provincias yesterday, one of the arrested individuals claimed that the relationships with the girl were consensual, while the other suspects stated that they had had sex with her before. However, in her statement, the victim stated that she only wanted to have relations with one of the boys, but was later forced by the others and obliged to have relations with all of them.
It was the videos recorded of the alleged rape by the perpetrators themselves that allowed the case to be uncovered and the individuals involved to be identified. The detainees not only assaulted their classmate but also recorded the scene with their mobile phones and then disseminated the images without her consent.
Furthermore, they did so among friends and classmates at the school where they and the victim study. It was a student from another grade who reported the dissemination of the images to the school's administration, which was able to alert the victim.
The three young men have been placed under supervised release and have been prohibited from communicating with the victim, whom they cannot approach within 50 meters.
The Government Delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, confirmed that the case is in the hands of the Minors Prosecutor's Office and under a gag order. However, she made an appeal to protect minors from digital environments that can be "extremely dangerous and harmful."