The judge believes the former number 2 of the National Police sexually assaulted an agent and takes another step to send him to trial

Barcelona / MadridNew step forward in the case of the alleged sexual assault by the former Deputy Operational Director (DAO) of the National Police José Ángel González. The judge in Madrid investigating the case, which stems from the complaint by a police officer, sees clear indications of the crime in the proceedings carried out so far and, as it is a serious offense, has decided to transform the preliminary proceedings into a summary, the phase prior to sending the case to trial. According to a ruling to which ARA has had access, the investigated facts "bear the hallmarks of an alleged sexual assault offense", which – he adds – should be tried by the Provincial Court of Madrid.

The judge proceeds to open the summary "to ascertain and record the perpetration of the crime, the circumstances that may influence its qualification and the culpability of the responsible parties, ensuring their availability". And he gives the parties five days to request any additional proceedings they deem appropriate. The victim's lawyer informs ARA that they will provide more evidence "to demonstrate that the former DAO lied repeatedly and that the victim is telling the truth", while the defense of the former police chief has already requested that the summary be concluded without his prosecution. The last step will be the re-declaration of the investigated person and, subsequently, the judge himself will have to decide whether to send him to the dock.

The reporting officer states that José Ángel González, with whom she had an "affective relationship", sexually assaulted her in April last year in an official residence, property of the Ministry of the Interior. And she adds that, after the assault, she was allegedly coerced not to report it. The former number 2 of the Spanish police, who resigned in February following the case, defended his "innocence" before the judge, accused the officer of having "set a trap" for him and called her "crazy, envious, and hysterical". However, he described his relationship with the woman as a "game".

In a brief filed by his defense, which the Efe agency has accessed, González rejects the judge's new step and denies "the existence of rational indications of criminality that could minimally sustain the accusation." He considers, however, that no further investigations are necessary and denounces the "irreparable damage" caused to the investigated party after a lawsuit "without legal basis or evidentiary foundation to support the reported facts," he states. The defense also rejects that the evidence gathered so far – from an audio of the alleged assault to medical reports – corroborates the crime and points out alleged contradictions by the complainant.