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Sexual offences against minors · specialised defence

Offences against minors: specialised criminal defence

Criminal defence throughout Spain · offices in Madrid and Alicante · strict confidentiality

Offences against the sexual indemnity of minors are among the gravest accusations in the Criminal Code: severe penalties, long ancillary measures and an enormous personal, family and professional impact from the first moment of the proceedings.

In brief. These are cases in which the evidence is especially technical: the lawfulness of the search of devices, the chain of custody of digital material, the way the minor’s examination is documented and the criteria for assessing the victim’s testimony decide the outcome more often than any generic plea. We defend persons under investigation with maximum technical rigour, and act for victims and families as private prosecutors.

Why it is different

72h
The first investigative steps fix the evidential framework of the whole case.
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Offices in Madrid and Alicante; assistance anywhere in Spain.
LIWARD
Our own methodology of legal intelligence and forensic analysis.

An accusation that admits no improvisation

Offences against the sexual indemnity of minors carry heavy penalties, long ancillary consequences and an enormous personal, family and professional impact from the first moment of the proceedings. At the same time, they are cases where the evidence is especially technical: the lawfulness of the search of devices, the chain of custody of the digital material, the manner in which the minor’s examination is documented and the criteria for assessing the victim’s statement decide the result more often than any generic plea.

We undertake the defence of persons under investigation with the utmost technical rigour and absolute confidentiality, and we act for victims and their families as private prosecution, with the protection measures of the Victim’s Statute.

Types of offence

The offences of Title VIII of the Criminal Code

Art. 181 CP

Sexual assault on a minor under 16

Acts of a sexual nature with a person under sixteen. The law gives no effect to the minor’s consent below that age, save for the proximity clause of Article 183 bis. Penalty: imprisonment, aggravated under Article 180.
Art. 182 CP

Causing or exposing to sexual acts

Conduct directed, for sexual purposes, at causing a minor under sixteen to take part in sexual behaviour or to witness acts of that nature. Penalty: imprisonment, according to the form of conduct.
Art. 183 CP

Online sexual solicitation (grooming)

Contact through technological means with a minor under sixteen proposing a meeting to commit the offences of Articles 181 or 189, accompanied by material acts of approach. Paragraph 2 punishes deceiving the minor to obtain material. Penalty: imprisonment or a fine, aggravated with violence or intimidation.
Art. 183 bis CP

Proximity-of-age clause

The free consent of a minor under sixteen excludes liability where the actor is close in age and in degree of development or maturity. Its application requires evidence and individualised analysis. Effect: exclusion of criminal liability.
Art. 188 CP

Prostitution of minors

Inducing, promoting, favouring or facilitating the prostitution of a minor, and requesting or accepting a sexual relation for payment with a minor. Penalty: imprisonment and a fine, aggravated if under sixteen.
Art. 189 CP

Child sexual abuse material

Recruitment, production, distribution, dissemination, exhibition, acquisition or possession of this material, and knowing access through information technologies. The forms of conduct carry markedly different penalty ranges. Penalty: imprisonment, according to the conduct and aggravating factors.
Art. 189 CP

Synthetic material and artificial intelligence

The legal concept also covers realistic images. Determining the correct classification where no real minor exists is today one of the most intense technical debates. Key: expert evidence of authenticity and traceability of the file.
Art. 192 CP

Aggravations and ancillary consequences

Abuse of a position of superiority, kinship or cohabitation; special disqualification from professions and activities involving regular contact with minors; and supervised release following the prison term. Effect: disqualification and supervised release.
Art. 132 CP

Limitation and historic facts

In serious offences against the sexual liberty and indemnity of minors the limitation period does not begin to run until the victim turns 35 (Organic Law 8/2021), which considerably extends the scope for prosecuting remote facts. Effect: deferred computation of the period.
Penalties at a glance

Summary of criminal consequences

OffenceArticleCriminal responseDetermining factor
Sexual assault on a minor under 16181ImprisonmentAge of the victim · Article 180 aggravations
Causing or exposing to sexual acts182ImprisonmentForm of the conduct
Online solicitation (grooming)183Imprisonment or fineMaterial acts of approach
Prostitution of minors188Imprisonment and fineAge · situation of vulnerability
Child sexual abuse material189Imprisonment, differing rangesProduction and dissemination versus possession or access
Ancillary consequences192Disqualification · supervised releaseImposed alongside the principal penalty
Limitation132Computed from the victim’s 35th birthdaySerious offences against minors (LO 8/2021)
Legal person31 bisFine · suspension · dissolutionAbsence of an effective compliance programme

Penalty ranges are indicative and set out the ordinary framework; the sentence actually imposed depends on the degree of completion, aggravating and mitigating circumstances and the specific facts of each case.

Our differentiator

Where personal testimony meets forensic analysis

Two sources of evidence of very different natures coexist in these cases: the victim’s testimony and the digital evidence. The former is assessed under consolidated case-law criteria (absence of subjective incredibility, plausibility corroborated by objective data and persistence in the incrimination) and psychological expert reports on the validity of the account. The latter depends on judicial authorisation of the search of devices (Articles 588 sexies of the Criminal Procedure Act), the chain of custody and the technical extraction. For that reason we apply LIWARD, Legal Intelligence Warfare for Defense, our own methodology, which integrates legal intelligence, case-law analytics, documentary analysis and e-forensics into a single procedural strategy. That is what distinguishes us from conventional criminal defence.

01

Legal intelligence

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Case-law analytics

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Digital evidence · e-forensic

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Procedural strategy

How we intervene

A strategy sustained through every phase

Phase 01

Investigation and seizure of devices

Phase 02

Pre-constituted evidence and the minor’s examination

Phase 03

Expert analysis and counter-expertise

Phase 04

Trial and appeals

Who we represent

Each profile demands a distinct defence

I

Persons under investigation

Technical defence from arrest or first summons: control of the lawfulness of the investigation, interim measures, correct classification of the facts and strict confidentiality.

V

Victims and families

Private prosecution, driving the investigation forward, protection measures under the Victim’s Statute and full recovery of civil liability arising from the offence.

E

Schools and entities

Schools, sports clubs and leisure entities: child protection protocols, protection officer, Central Registry certification and criminal management of incidents.

M

Minors under investigation

Proceedings under Organic Law 5/2000 where the suspect is between 14 and 17: educational measures, intervention of the Juvenile Prosecutor and specialised defence.

FAQ

What to know before the first consultation

Can a conviction rest solely on the testimony of the minor victim?
It can be sufficient evidence, but its mere existence is not enough: it must satisfy the criteria required by the case law (absence of subjective incredibility, plausibility corroborated by objective data and persistence in the incrimination) and be weighed with the rest of the evidential material. The defence’s task is to verify, rigorously and without revictimising, whether those requirements are truly met.
My telephone and computer have been seized. Is whatever they find valid?
Only if the search was ordered by a reasoned judicial decision meeting the requirements of Articles 588 bis a and 588 sexies of the Criminal Procedure Act, and if the extraction and subsequent custody establish that the material analysed is the same as was seized. Defects in the obtaining or preservation of digital evidence can lead to its nullity and that of derived evidence.
What is pre-constituted evidence and why is it so important?
It is the statement of the minor victim taken in advance and recorded before the investigating judge, with expert assistance, so that the minor need not testify again at trial. It is a protective guarantee, but also the only moment when the defence can put questions: if adversarial examination is not secured then, the act is compromised for the remainder of the proceedings.
When does an offence of this kind against a minor become time-barred?
In serious offences against minors the period does not begin to run until the victim turns 35 (Organic Law 8/2021), which considerably widens the scope for prosecuting historic facts. In proceedings over remote facts, the analysis of the computation, the preservation of sources of evidence and any undue delay acquires decisive weight.
Apart from imprisonment, what other consequences are there?
A conviction entails special disqualification from employments, professions and activities involving regular contact with minors, supervised release after the prison term, prohibitions on approach and communication, civil liability and entry in the Central Registry of Sexual Offenders, with prolonged employment effects. All of this is litigated: its scope and duration are contested at classification and at enforcement.
What is the LIWARD methodology?
It is our own methodology, Legal Intelligence Warfare for Defense, which integrates legal intelligence, documentary analysis and digital forensic evidence into a single procedural strategy. It allows us to anticipate the weaknesses of the prosecution and to build the defence on technical evidence. All work is carried out with absolute discretion from the first contact.

Speak to a criminal lawyer

In a fast-track case, the days you have are the case.

Criminal defence in English before the courts of Alicante and the rest of Spain, for residents and for visitors who have flown home.

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Société de Conseil Juridique et Expert es un despacho de abogados con sedes en Madrid, Alicante, Londres y París, especializado en defensa y acusación penal, delitos económicos y corporativos y derecho tecnológico. Trabajamos con orientación estratégica en procedimientos penales complejos, propiedad intelectual y análisis forense avanzado, y prestamos consultoría jurídica, compliance y escudos de protección a particulares y empresas. Atendemos desde Alicante y Madrid, con consulta online en toda España y asistencia al detenido 24 horas. Resuelva sus dudas en las preguntas frecuentes o solicite una primera consulta.

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