A 38-year-old Irish woman has been fined after admitting sexually assaulting an 18-year-old Swedish holidaymaker in the spa of a Magaluf hotel.
What happened
The incident took place in June last year at a four-star hotel in Magaluf. The woman, who was on holiday with her husband, had been talking to the Swedish teenager in the hotel sauna. When he later went into the hotel’s Turkish bath, she sat down next to him and touched his genitals without his consent.
The young man said “no, no, no”, left immediately and reported what had happened to hotel staff, who called the Guardia Civil.
Arrest and bail
Officers arrested the woman at the hotel. She spent a night in the cells before a judge released her on bail, allowing her to return home to County Cork while the investigation continued.
The court case
The public prosecutor initially sought a prison sentence of a year and a half and a two-year ban on working with minors. The woman had at first claimed it was a misunderstanding and that she believed the young man was interested in her because he had followed her from the sauna.
Shortly before the trial was due to begin at the Provincial Court in Palma, she changed her plea and admitted the offence by video link.
The sentence
The judges approved a plea agreement under which she must pay a fine of €2,700 and €500 in compensation to the victim. Because the sentence was below two years and she had no previous convictions, any custodial element was suspended, as Spanish law allows for first offenders.
The agreement meant the victim did not have to travel back to Mallorca to give evidence.
Under Spain’s sexual consent law, any sexual contact without clear consent is classed as sexual assault, regardless of the circumstances.
