Filipino Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Years-Long Rape of Daughter in Andorra

The Tribunal de Corts has sentenced a 47-year-old Filipino resident to 15 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing his biological daughter when she was aged four to ten.

Judges convicted him of a major continued offence of sexual acts amounting to rape against a minor under 14 by an ascendant figure, a major continued family-based sexual assault, and a minor domestic maltreatment offence against a minor. The abuses took place over about six years in the family home, exploiting the father's authority and the girl's vulnerability. The court afforded full credibility to the victim's consistent account, backed by psychological and expert reports from the investigation.

Beyond the jail term, the ruling imposes a 12-year ban on approaching or contacting the victim, disqualification from parental authority, custody, and visitation rights until she turns 18, and expulsion from Andorra for 20 years post-sentence. He must pay €15,000 in moral damages compensation and cover court costs.

The case came to light in April 2024 after the girl, then 15, disclosed the abuse to trusted contacts. Police arrested the man at the end of a restaurant shift on 30 April and held him in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors sought the full 15-year penalty at the closed-door trial on 12-13 January, while defence counsel pushed for acquittal or reclassification as maltreatment. The court found no significant aggravating or mitigating factors beyond the offence type. The defence plans to appeal to the Superior Court for a reduced term.

In related developments, Andorra's courts are addressing other child sex abuse matters. The Superior Court appeal hearing for a 23-year-old man—sentenced to nine years for abusing three minors, with partial acquittal, mitigators for youth under 21 at some acts, and diagnoses of ADHD and autism—was cancelled after a private prosecutor challenged presiding magistrate Anna Estragués on Wednesday. The panel's makeup had been known for months; the hearing awaits review.

Separately, the Superior Court heard arguments Wednesday in an extradition appeal by a 44- to 48-year-old Spanish-origin resident convicted in Seville in 2015 of repeated sexual assaults and abuse on two adoptive daughters. Detained in Andorra since October 2024, he opposes transfer, citing autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit, severe depression, prior suicide attempts, and his son's December 2024 death at his biological mother's home—the same woman who reported him. He told the court he prefers "death or a harsher sentence" over returning to Spain, to stay near his Andorran wife (with incurable cancer) and autistic daughter. Defence seeks penalty execution in Andorra; prosecutors insist no exceptional gravity exists, Spain's prisons can provide care, and legal conditions bar local enforcement. Ruling due 31 March.