Andorra Court to Review 9-Year Sentence for Youth's Sexual Assaults on Minors

The nine-year prison sentence handed to a 23-year-old man on 10 December 2025 for sexually assaulting three minors will be reviewed by Andorra's Tribunal Superior, following appeals from all parties involved.

The original ruling by the Tribunal de Corts found multiple incidents proven between 2021 and 2023. It imposed three years for the first offence, four and a half years for the second, and 18 months for the third, totalling nine years in custody. The court also ordered a combined 33,000 euros in compensation for moral damages. Judges applied a partial exemption due to the defendant's mental impairment, citing a disorder that partially limited his capacities, along with a mitigating factor for being under 21 at the time of the acts. This reduced the penalties below what prosecutors and private accusers had sought.

The public prosecutor's office has appealed the mental health reduction, arguing it was not sufficiently proven and seeking its removal. It now requests six years for the most serious episode, three years for another, and two years for the third—lower than its original four-year demand for that final count. Private accusers for two victims have called this stance inconsistent, questioning how the prosecution can challenge the reduction while proposing a lighter sentence.

The victims' representatives are pushing for aggravating factors and higher compensation, arguing the sentence fails to reflect the offences' severity and their lasting impact. Meanwhile, the defence maintains its call for full acquittal, insisting the evidence does not overcome the presumption of innocence. It highlights the defendant's recognised 60% disability rating for neurodevelopmental disorders, which it says should trigger a complete exemption from criminal liability. As a fallback, it seeks major penalty cuts, with any firm term not exceeding time already served in pre-trial detention.

The Tribunal Superior must now decide on the mental health exemption's validity, revised penalties from all sides, potential changes to legal classifications, and compensation adjustments. The outcome will shape the defendant's fate and set precedents for mental health mitigations in sexual offence cases involving medical evidence. Private accusers warn the prosecution's appeal risks a paradoxical result: overturning the reduction while effectively easing one penalty, potentially diluting the overall response further.