A suspect was arrested last Thursday in connection with eight sexual assaults and one rape and, after giving a statement to the duty magistrate in Maó, was imprisoned without bail, but with visiting and communication rights, until his transfer to Palma for trial, a decision which was reviewed by the judge yesterday and ratified. The decision indicates that there is firm evidence that the man arrested was indeed responsible for committing the crimes in the Maó, Es Castell and Sant Lluís areas.
The evidence was mentioned at a press conference given by the State Administration's Island Director, Javier Tejero, on Saturday morning when he confirmed that "in principle there is only one man under arrest with evidence of guilt" and that the suspect, M.A.C.P., was a young Spaniard under the age of 30 and resident in Menorca.
Tejero also affirmed that there had been nine reported cases, and not six as had previously been stated, and that they could be classed as crimes against sexual freedom in varying degrees (from attempted sexual assault to rape). Five of the accusations had been made to the Policía Nacional and the other four to the Guardia Civil. In each of the cases in Es Castell, Maó and Sant Lluís the victim was a woman under 40 years of age.
The State Administration's Island Director declined to provide details of the investigation or the arrest, in order to safeguard the suspect's "presumed innocent until proven guilty" status and to protect the methods of investigation. Nor did he offer details of the clues leading to the suspect's arrest, although he did confirm that several identifications had been carried out.
He did, however, explain that they had decided not to release an Identikit picture of the suspect prior to his arrest on the advice of police experts who were afraid that it would increase public concern. He added that information had been withheld from the public in order to help the inquiry.
Cases
The first sexual assault took place in March, sparking off the police investigation, although the public remained in the dark until April when another woman was attacked. At that time the State's General Administration confirmed that there had been two sexual assaults and a rape. Between May and July there were three further known attacks of a similar nature. Following the arrest of the suspect it was announced that there had been another three such incidents.
Sentence
In total, the suspect is believed to have committed up to nine sexual crimes, including a rape, sexual assaults in varying degrees and abuses. This type of crime could result in a sentence of 18 to 24 months of fines and prison for between one and twelve years, depending on the severity of the crime.