The Third Section of Murcia’s Provincial Court has sentenced three people to minimum sentences: one man and two women. They maintained a brothel in Murcia’s bar district for over two decades, sexually exploiting women. A local police officer was a regular customer at the same brothel, arriving in uniform and armed and having sex with the sex workers for free.
None of them will go to jail; they have been handed suspended prison sentences as long as they do not commit any crimes for three years and pay the agreed-upon civil obligation (40,000 euros, 20,000 for each of the women who have protected witness status in the case). All of them agreed on their sentences with the Prosecutor’s Office.
The first woman charged was sentenced to two months in prison, to be replaced by a €60 fine for facilitating illegal immigration; two prostitution-related offences were sentenced to six months in prison and a €540 fine each; and one public health offence ( drug dealing) was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.
The second defendant, who committed two prostitution-related offences, received a six-month prison sentence and a €540 fine; for a crime against public health, she received a year and six months in prison. She received the same sentence as the man.
Exploitation and Drugs
According to the court ruling’s statement of proved facts, the exploitation of sex workers and the trafficking of drugs occurred within the brothel on Calle Victorio de Murcia and the adjacent boarding home.
Two of the girls filed a complaint, prompting the police to take action. They said that they were “recruited” in her native country by one of the now-convicted ladies and that they had gone to Spain as tourists from Brazil with the intention of working as cleaners. However, when they arrived, they discovered a totally different reality: they were taken to the boarding house and told that “they had incurred a debt of 3,000 euros each and that they would have to alternate and have sexual relations with the establishment’s guests to settle their debt.” The ruling said they must pay for their room and the woman’s food.
They remained like this for nearly a year, from late 2004 until August 2005, when “with the help of a client, they were able to recover their passports and flee to Madrid, where they went to the Central Brigade of Immigration Networks to file the relevant complaints.”
Murcia’s Investigative Court No. 6 took over the case, authorising the tapping, listening, and recording of two suspects’ phones. One of them never appeared in court because he died before the trial could begin.
The police officer implicated in this case is now 67 years old and retired. The officer admitted to what he did 20 years ago: he entered the brothel “In uniform and with his service weapon to have sex with the women who worked there, without paying the price, given his police status, which he made clear by appearing in uniform,” according to the verdict.
He was also caught with narcotics worth 70 euros. He will pay a punishment of 90 euros for bribes.
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