Photo: Diego Cruz in front of a court in Spain.
A wealthy 21-year-old Mexican man has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl — because he “did not enjoy it,” according to reports.
By Yaron Steinbuch
Diego Cruz was an alleged member of the “Los Porkys” gang of four privileged young men who were accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl on Jan. 1, 2015, the Telegraph of the UK reported.
The girl told cops she was assaulted after a New Year’s party when she got into a car with the suspects, who were her classmates in an elite private school in southern Veracruz state.
In a ruling that drew outrage, Judge Anuar González found that although Cruz may have touched the girls’s breasts and penetrated her with his fingers, he had done so without “carnal intent” — so was not guilty of assault, The Guardian reported.
“He sexually touched her, he vaginally penetrated her, but because he didn’t enjoy it, it’s not sexual abuse?” Estefanía Vela Barba, an activist on gender issues, told the paper.
“Since there was no pleasure in the act, it was intended to cause humiliation. They were touching her, they were bothering her, so for the judge, if the intention wasn’t pleasure, it’s not sexual assault,” said Vela Barba.
Cruz left Mexico shortly before the four men were charged in April 2016. He was arrested in Spain two months later and extradited to face trial.
The case has been cited as an example of the widespread impunity allowed the offspring of prominent Mexicans.
Fifteen months after the attack, the girl took to Facebook in an apparent attempt to shame authorities into acting.
“I have nothing to repent,” she wrote. “I’ve gone drinking. I’ve gone to parties. I’ve worn short skirts like many girls my age … and for that I’m going to be judged? For that I deserved what happened?”
SOURCE: New York Post, March 29