A BARCELONA woman in her 30s who had sexual relations with a boy of 12 has been acquitted of child abuse charges because she 'did not realise he was underage'.
The accused, who was 34 at the time and lives in Madrid, had been staying overnight at her business partner's home in the Catalunya capital for work-related reasons, the Supreme Court heard.
She and her male business partner had been involved in 'sporadic sexual relations' before the incident with his 12-year-old son.
Back in April 2013, during one of the woman's stays in the Barcelona family home, she reportedly entered the son's bedroom and slept with him.
This was reportedly a consenting act, but at the time, sexual consent could not legally be given by children aged under 13 and, later that same year, the minimum age was raised to 16.
The woman said she 'did not know the boy's exact age'.
A few days after their encounter, the accused sent an email to the youngster with 'pictures of erotic content', but the boy's mother went through her son's inbox and found them, confronting the child and reporting her husband's business partner.
The boy suffered psychological problems which started 'after the incident was revealed', the court heard.
Once the case was opened and the boy was examined, having just turned 14, the court said his physical appearance – muscular, well-built and his voice having broken – meant that it would be 'very difficult' to tell his exact age and he could have been taken for 'around 15 or 16'.
The Supreme Court (pictured) did not consider the photos sent by the woman – those which had not been deleted – to be 'pornographic'.
In an unusual verdict, the judge said his acquittal of the woman was due to the 'limitations of the law', and that this 'did not mean the court completely agreed' with the accused's apparent ignorance of the boy's age as being a valid defence.
“In similar circumstances involving a man of this age and a girl of 12, this very court has qualified the former's actions as child sex abuse...even when the man admitted he had not known the victim's exact age,” said the Supreme Court judge.
“But this is impossible in the case which concerns us, since it has not even been put forward as a subject of appeal; the case in hand is limited to examining the proof available.”
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