Madrid: Spain's Supreme Court on Friday found five men who called themselves "The Pack" guilty of gang rape, refuting previous convictions of the lesser offence of sexual abuse in a case that shook the country. The Madrid-based tribunal sentenced each defendant to 15 years in prison, overturning two previous rulings in the case that sparked mass protests in Spain.
"The factual account describes a genuine scenario of intimidation in which the victim never consents to the sexual acts performed by the accused," the court ruled. The victim found herself in "a situation of intimidation that made her adopt an attitude of submission, doing what the perpetrators told her to do."
The five men raped the drunk woman, then aged 18, at the entrance to an apartment building in Pamplona in July 2016 at the start of the popular San Fermin bull-running festival.
Minutes after meeting her, they had unprotected sexual relations with her that included oral sex and left her half-naked in the doorway. One of them also stole her mobile.
The five filmed the incident with their smartphones and then bragged about it on WhatsApp where they referred to themselves as "La Manada," or "The Pack". The footage they shared on WhatsApp had been used against them in court but also against the victim for her passivity during the act.
