The Provincial Court of Alicante, based in Elche, has sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing the mother of his partner, an 85-year-old mentally impaired woman, who is totally dependent on her daughter.

He was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for abuse, plus another five years for sexual exploitation, in addition to touching and abusing her. He amazingly recorded much of the abuse on his mobile phone which he later downloaded and stored on his computer.

The events date back to 2015, when the man, aged 56, was caring for the victim. The woman needed constant attention for her cognitive disorder, and the defendant was one of her carers.

Amongst other acts he made the woman touch his private parts, while recording the abuses with his mobile phone.

The Provincial Court judge said he had no hesitation in imposing the penalty requested by the prosecutor, saying that “this form of sexual abuse parallels the crime of rape.”

In the judicial decision, the man is also pay 20,000 euros in compensation to the victim, for the moral damages caused, in addition to the payment of the costs.

The complaint was made by the daughter of the victim who found the videos on the computer. When she had verified that the film was of her mother, she recorded them on her own mobile phone and went to the police.

During the trial, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges, and the court viewed the four videos found on his computer.

The Prosecutor has requested the immediate entry into the prison of the accused, who was already in custody awaiting trial stating that the sentence should be implemented as soon as possible. The sentence is still to be confirmed but the fact that the detainee pleaded guilty leaves little legal room for manoeuvre or appeal by the defence.