• 'Yes is yes' First official data on the impact of the Sexual Freedom law: 646 sex offenders have already benefited

The Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has corrected a reduction in the sentence of the Court of Palma under the law of only yes is yes to a man who subjected a minor daughter of his sentimental partner to continued sexual abuse .

Following the appeal of the defense of the abuser after the approval of the Law to Guarantee Sexual Freedom, the first section of the Provincial Court reviewed the case and considered that the new legislation was more favorable to the prisoner and that the original sentence should be reduced from 11 years in prison to 10 and a half years in jail.

The sentence handed down with the old regulation established that the sexual relations maintained by the defendant with the girl from the time she was 10 years old to the age of 16 implied a continuous crime of sexual abuse of a minor.

According to the interpretation of the Court of Palma, the new law of 2022 benefited the convicted person and, therefore, the sentence should be reduced to the minimum established for the crime described, six months less than with the repealed legislation.

The Prosecutor's Office, which had already opposed the review, and the legal representation of the victim and her mother filed an appeal that was processed by the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of the Balearic Islands.

In its order, the autonomous high court reviews the regulations that give "principle character" to the

"imposition of the most beneficial sentence for the accused"

in cases of modification of the laws, an obligation that cannot be evaded, he maintains.

In his analysis, he considers that

the Court erred in calculating the sentence when it understood that the law of only yes is yes was more favorable to the defendant

than the previous legislation and points out that, on the contrary,

"it is not more beneficial for the accused ".

Consequently, it establishes that the original sentence of 11 years in prison must be maintained and revokes the reduction of the revised sentence.

The criminal sections of the Court of Palma have lowered 46 sentences for sexual offenders of the 111 that it has reviewed after the entry into force of the Law on the Guarantee of Sexual Freedom.

Six releases have been derived from these downward revisions.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Justice

  • sexual assaults

  • Law of Sexual Freedom