Álvaro Ratón, Real Zaragoza goalkeeper, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2018 in Carballiño (Ourense), has been acquitted of two crimes of sexual assault and injuries, as the incident has not been proven.
The events date back to the end of June of that year, on the night of San Juan, when a woman reported that the defendant, with whom she had a conversation, intimidated her into having sex with her. The complainant assured that he kissed her against her will and shook her as he pushed her.
According to his version, the man, whom he knew by sight, told him “You are very good, let's go here, it will only be a while” and, immediately afterwards, she urged him to have sex. At that moment, he would have tried to force her and by refusing, he threw her against a wall while pulling down his pants in front of her. The physical part detected bruises on the body.
However, according to the ruling provided by the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia, the Criminal Court number one of Orense does not consider proven that he sexually assaulted her or the injuries. In addition, it renders “without effect” the prohibition to communicate or approach within three hundred meters of the complainant.
It considers that “the participation of the accused in the facts has not been proven, beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“To issue a conviction with the available evidence would constitute a violation of the principle of presumption of innocence and the principle in dubio pro reo ”, abounds in the ruling, against which there is an appeal before the Provincial Court of Orense.
The judge also appreciates “Variations” in the version offered by the woman and points out that the story “lacks” peripheral corroborations.
In fact, it warns that “There is no witness to see how he grabbed her by one or both arms; to see how he tried to kiss her or kissed her against her will; let him see that he dropped his pants; let him see that he put his hand into her underwear; or that he saw that he pushed her against a bench, ladder or wall ”.
All this, he points out, despite the existence of two nearby locations “In which people enter and leave continuously, especially on nights like the one that occurred, the night of San Juan.”