In Spain, the Supreme Court has confirmed the final sentence for an evangelical couple for abusing minors. The case, tried in the Provincial Court of Murcia in September 2019, has now been definitively closed with the conviction: eight years in prison for the pastor and two years for his wife.

The victims were minors, a boy and a girl, and used to attend the Iglesia Corazón de León de la Tribu de Judá of the town San Pedro del Pinatar.

They used to visit the home of the abusers seeking for the pastor’s spiritual advice and care, since they had difficult personal and family backgrounds. According to the court, the pastor influenced the 13-year-old boy to have sex with his wife. The girl, aged 14, sometimes slept on the sofa in the convicted man’s home, and he took advantage of this circumstance of family abandonment to, according to the proven facts, “bend the minor to his sexual requirements at all times” between June 2014 and November 2014, as well as including her in the sexual practices with his partner.

Both are convicted of sexual abuse. They must compensate their victims with 2,000 euros each and are not allowed to approach them within 100 metres. The man is forbidden to carry out activities “that could offer or facilitate the opportunity to commit criminal acts of a similar nature” in the next four years, and the same applies for 2 years for the woman.

Evangelicals: "zero tolerance" for abuse

In response to the news, the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE), the body representing evangelical churches to the state) has ratified its “condemnation” and its “zero tolerance policy” towards abuse, according to a report by the Europa Press news agency.

As reported by FEREDE in October 2019, when the sentence of the Provincial Court became known, it was the wife of the then evangelical pastor who denounced her husband. According to the Federation’s account, the woman was receiving marriage counselling sessions and informed the pastors who were counselling her about some facts in which they observed signs of a crime. These, in their turn, decided to consult the Evangelical Council of the Region of Murcia (CEMU) and FEREDE, who advised the counsellors to encourage the woman to immediately file a complaint with the police authorities. The woman agreed, knowing that she would also have to incriminate herself, and went to the police station accompanied by one of the pastoral counsellors.

As soon as the case became known, the woman’s licence as a minister of worship was withdrawn, according to FEREDE.

In addition to the explicit prevention measures, FEREDE recommends that in all cases of sexual abuse the facts be reported to the authorities and that all support be given to the victims, especially when they are minors.