The three victims of the masseur who are being tried in San Sebastian on charges of sexual assault have declared behind closed doors

Three victims of the masseur accused of sexual assault have testified behind closed doors in the trial that began on Monday and that, although they are now adults, they were assaulted when they were 13, 14 and 15 years old. 

The defence has requested the suspension of the hearing, since a witness  and an expert have not appeared at the trial, but the court has rejected this possibility. The witness is an ertzaina who, due to an accident, has not been able to attend, while the expert is an expert psychologist of the psychosocial team and will not be able to attend the trial because he is on holiday. 

He thus accepts the prosecution's request that the victims testify behind closed doors, but denies the same request to the defendant's defence, and the accused will be the last to testify at the trial, which is expected to last until Thursday.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in Gipuzkoa is requesting 45 years' imprisonment for the defendant for allegedly offering to massage teenagers to "relieve them of tension".

In addition to these prison sentences, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests additional penalties for disqualification, removal and prohibition of approach to victims for the accused, two of them with 50,000 euros and compensation of 60,000 euros.

The prosecution's provisional indictment states that the events occurred in 2021, when the accused contacted the teenagers through his partner's daughter, as well as his son.

So he started conversations with them through mobile phone messaging apps and a social network, and he got the girls' trust.

In those messages, he stressed that he saw them "with a lot of stress and anxiety," and suggested that "if they didn't solve the problem soon, they could get into depression," and that he was willing to help them "through the massages he offered," and that he would give them "free."