A Veracruz judge who freed a man accused of sexually assaulting a minor on the grounds that there was no “lascivious intent” has been dismissed for corruption.
The Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) said that Anuar González Hemadi had been fired for “acting against evidence” presented and making “inexcusable mistakes” in the so-called “Porkys” case in which a 17-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted by four young men from affluent families in Boca del Río, Veracruz, in January 2015.
González granted an injunction to Diego Gabriel Cruz Alonso in March 2017 that released him from custody, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case.
The CFJ, which oversees Mexico’s courts, said in reference to the injunction that “jurisdictional decisions must always be instruments that impact positively on people and generate a social change through their precedents and never subject to private or economic interests.”
After leaving a nightclub in Boca del Río, Dafne Fernández was forced into a vehicle by four college students who took her to one of their homes in the Costa de Oro residential estate and allegedly assaulted her.
The victim testified that one of the men fondled her breasts and the other inserted his fingers into her vagina.
But the judge said that “an incidental touching or fondling will not be considered sexual acts if proof is not presented that it was done to satisfy a sexual desire.”
González also ruled that Fernández was not “defenseless,” which he claimed the law required, because she had been able to move to the front seat of the car after pleading with her attackers to stop.
The judge was previously suspended by the CJF in March 2017 pending an investigation into his conduct.
The “Porkys” case gained national prominence in March 2016 after a video was posted on YouTube in which the four students – privileged sons of politicians and business leaders – apologized for their actions.
Diego Cruz Alonso fled to Spain shortly after but was arrested in January 2017 and extradited back to Mexico but was soon freed as a result of the injunction granted by González.
Only one of the men involved in the case, Enrique Capitaine, is currently in custody but he has not been formally charged.
A judge granted an injunction to Gerardo Rodríguez after ruling that while he was present when the abuse occurred he didn’t participate in it while the fourth man, Jorge Cotaita, is currently a fugitive from justice.
Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp)
