Efe Murcia

Murcia

Updated Thursday, March 7, 2024-11:10

  • National Police Four arrested for prostituting and sexually assaulting two minors aged 13 and 15 in exchange for 20 euros

Two teenagers aged 13 and 15, wards of the

Autonomous Community of Murcia,

were sexually assaulted and forced into prostitution, after being approached at the beginning of February around the bus station in the Murcia capital.

Although the attacks took place on February 8, it has not been until now that it has emerged that the girls were minors supervised by the administration, as confirmed to Efe by the

Department of Social Policy

, which has insisted on the need to " protect the privacy and security" of the victims.

Both the two women who urged the minors to become prostitutes and the two men who attacked them were arrested on February 23 and are free with charges.

According to detailed sources from the department directed by Conchita Ruiz, "since it became aware of the situation," the Ministry of Social Policy, through the entity that manages the juvenile center where the girls reside, "filed a complaint "firstly, due to the disappearance of the minors and secondly, due to a possible crime of sexual abuse."

In addition, the corresponding action protocols were applied in the event of possible situations of sexual assault and they were provided with support and comprehensive care from professionals specialized in the matter.

Currently, the same sources point out, the priority is "to ensure the recovery of the minors and their emotional well-being."

According to information provided by the National Police, the two girls were approached on the street by two women, who tried to convince them to go with them to Cehegín, about 70 kilometers from the capital, to prostitute themselves with men.

The teenagers "at first consented to this proposal," say the Police, and the two women took them to an apartment where two men forced themselves on them, without their consent, and sexually assaulted them.

Finally, they gave each of them 20 euros, after which the girls went to the police station and told the officers what had happened and told them that "they had been overcome by the circumstances."

The Autonomous Community of Murcia currently protects 1,200 minors and Social Policy assures that this is an isolated event and there is no evidence of any other case of this type.

They also remember that child protection centers "are not configured as custodial centers," but that residents "can leave to go to the corresponding study center or carry out their extracurricular activities."

In addition, on weekends "they can go out freely, but with a maximum pick-up time of ten at night."

From the PSOE, the vice spokesperson of its Parliamentary Group in the Regional Assembly, Marisol Sánchez, has requested this Thursday the urgent appearance of the Minister of Social Policy "so that she can give all the explanations" about the case, since she considers that "it is about "some very serious events" that should lead to "reviewing all the protocols" of the centers for supervised minors.

The deputy has demanded "maximum transparency in this matter, that what happened be clarified as soon as possible and that the necessary measures be taken so that it does not happen again."