Glenn Wickman
A 24-YEAR-OLD football coach in Valencia has been sentenced to 223 years in prison for sexually abusing 26 children aged 11 to 14.
This is the highest punishment ever dealt to a sexual predator in the Valencian Community.
During the trial that concluded this week, it was established that Jose Vicente CF used his position as coach and supervisor at summer camps between the years 2015 and 2018 to ‘pressure and manipulate’ the minors in his care into taking part in sexual acts and orgies in which he was the only adult.
However, despite the huge prison sentence, the convicted paedophile will only serve a maximum of 20 years under current legislation. As a precaution against repeat offences, Jose Vicente has also been given 184 years’ probation upon his release.
The court heard that the abuses were committed via two methods. First, he began suggesting that the victims, mostly aged 12 at the time, should take part in some form of sexually orientated ‘dare’ if they lost at one of the football games they played.
He also invited them back to his house with the excuse of playing videogames, where the ‘dares’ escalated from exhibitionism to full anal penetration and where private sexual acts between himself and the children also reportedly took place.
The verdict adds that the victims never expressed their voluntary consent to take part in these abuses, but gave in to ‘psychological pressure’ on behalf of the coach, including threatening to exclude them from the group and humiliating them if they refused.
Parents never suspected anything amiss in the convict’s closeness with the boys, as he was said to be well known in the area, a good student and from a ‘good family’.
In addition to the prison and probation terms, Jose Vicente has also been sentenced to pay the victims €216,700 in damages.
