The president of the court of the Logroño Provincial Court that prosecuted the crime of the child Álex has sentenced Francisco Javier Almeida to a reviewable permanent prison sentence. as the author of a crime of murder and 15 years in prison for a crime of sexual assault on little Álex. It is also imposed a ban on residing in La Rioja and a ban on communication or approaching the parents and the brother of the minor murdered for 10 years after serving time in prison.
The magistrate's sentence comes after last March 30 and after seven days of trial, the jury unanimously found Almeida guilty of both crimes, murder and sexual assault. Now, the magistrate of the Provincial Court in his resolution imposes the maximum penalty that our Criminal Code includes and that during the trial was requested by the prosecutor and by the private and popular prosecution.
In the sentence for the murder and rape of Álex, of more than 200 pages, it is considered proven that on October 28, 2020, the convicted person deceived Ále, 9-year-old home when he was on the street dressed up and playing with other children. Once in his house, she sexually assaulted him and caused him to die by suffocation. The convicted man, with Álex's lifeless body in his arms, was surprised by a neighbor and by police officers on the stairs of the same building where he committed the crime.
According to the sentence, the evidence that proves the sexual assault on the minor with oral penetration is the finding of semen inside the minor's oral cavity, as well as the DNA tests provided by the Institute of Toxicology. The jury declared it proven that the violence used by the aggressor "was extreme" due to the injuries found on the child's body, other than those that caused his death, and due to the tearing of the leggings that Álex was wearing and which were Found at the domicile of the convicted person.
The sentence considers that "the injuries show the use of a special brutality, a violence that exceeded that which is inherent in the commission of the crime." The magistrate adds that another aspect that contributes to the certainty of the Jury Court is the "absolute incredibility of the defendant's version" that the minor would have collaborated in the sexual acts voluntarily, something that is "totally unreasonable, implausible and contrary to the most elementary common sense".
After the sexual assault, as proven by the jury, the convicted person "stood behind the minor and applied forearm pressure against his neck, first less intense and then extremely strong for 3-5 minutes until the child died of suffocation."
The sentence highlights what was declared by the forensics in the trial who affirmed that the violence used by the convicted person against his victim "was extreme and brutal" leaving internal injuries, which are not common when suffocation occurs due to forearm pressure. He adds that, even, the force that was used was superior to what is done in hangings.
In addition, the sentence highlights that, given Álex's age, 9 years, his weight, 28 kilos, compared to the strength and physical complexion of his aggressor "the possibility of defending the minor was non-existent." To which must be added that the child's death occurred after suffering a very violent sexual assault at the home of his aggressor, completely isolated, which further weakened him. In this sense, the jury considered it proven that Almeida had "direct intent to kill" in order to hide his sexual assault.
Thus, the sentence considers that the facts judged constitute a crime of murder with treachery whose sole purpose was to hide the sexual assault. The death was intentional and the treachery consists of the impossibility of the minor being able to defend himself. The magistrate, in his resolution, concludes that in view of these facts the penalty cannot be other than that of reviewable permanent imprisonment. In addition, he also takes into account the aggravating circumstance of recidivism, since Almeida had previously been convicted of the same crimes and his criminal record was not cancelled.
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