Moroccan Farmworker Testifies in Sexual Assault Trial Against Spanish Farm Manager

The prosecution has requested a 95-year prison sentence against the accused for six continuous crimes of sexual assault and a crime against workers’ rights. The Moroccan seasonal worker stated during the trial that she had never witnessed abuse or sexual assault against the other plaintiffs, but that one of them had suggested that she contact an association if she had been assaulted or threatened by the accused.

It was the CCOO union that informed the Civil Guard of the case. The officer of the armed institute who took the statement of the first victim on September 7, 2020, stated that the latter was afraid and "panicked". Five other women subsequently filed a complaint against the same farm manager for the same reasons. The head of the Civil Guard explained for his part that all the alleged victims had "the same profile": they were vulnerable and could neither read nor write.

When asked whether the women had been the victims of a "conspiracy or trap" by the defendant, the Civil Guard officer replied that this hypothesis had not been considered "at any time", given the information gathered during the investigation. A man, the owner of several animals on the farm and a friend of the accused, claimed that the facts of which the latter is accused are "lies".