Supreme Court Upholds Eight-Year Sentence for Tenerife Sexual Assault

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a 65-year-old inmate, effectively upholding his eight-year prison sentence for a sexual assault committed in Guía de Isora, Tenerife, in March 2021. The man, who has a history of similar offenses and is currently serving time in a Madrid prison, had sought to overturn his conviction.

The appeal centered on questioning the victim’s credibility. The defendant argued that the woman’s testimony was inconsistent and claimed that her lack of physical resistance during the assault invalidated the charges. However, the court dismissed these arguments, siding with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which noted that the defendant was merely attempting to relitigate facts that had already been settled by three previous court rulings.

The Criminal Chamber emphasized that the original conviction was based on solid evidence. Most notably, the court pointed to messages sent by the defendant after the incident in which he apologized for his actions. This evidence, combined with forensic and psychological reports, led the court to reject the defense's claims. The judges also dismissed the defendant’s version of events as implausible, reaffirming the victim’s testimony that her lack of resistance was due to fear of further harm.

Because the crime occurred before the 2022 "Only Yes is Yes" law came into effect, the case was prosecuted as sexual abuse. By refusing to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court has reinforced the difficulty of challenging final judgments without providing significant new evidence, confirming that the original sentence remains legally binding.