Spanish Soccer Star Gets Four-Year Jail Term For Sexual Abuse

Celta Vigo forward Santi Mina has been sentenced to four years in jail after he was found guilty for sexual abuse.

In a report from TMZ, the 26-year-old was meted the sentence at a court in Almeria, Spain on Wednesday, May 4.

Before the sentence was announced, Mina was also charged with rape. He was however acquitted of that charge.

Aside from the jail sentence, the Spanish footballer was also ordered to stay away from the victim for at least 12 years.

Originally, the prosecution reportedly lobbied for an eight-year sentence, ESPN reported. However, the Spanish court decided to hand down only half.

Also charged was David Goldar for failing to prevent the alleged sexual abuse from taking place. However, the former Celta Vigo player was found not guilty of being an accomplice.

Originally, Mina was accused of sexually assaulting the female victim in a camper in 2017 in Almeria. The woman was accompanied to the camper by Goldar.

At the time of the incident, Mina was still a member of Valencia.

After learning of the jail sentence of Mina, Celta Vigo issued an official statement on the matter.

"As a result of the ruling of the Provincial Court of Almeria ruling issued today, RC Celta has decided to open a disciplinary file on the player Santiago Mina to elucidate his work responsibilities in view of this resolution," the statement read.

"RC Celta respects the player's right to defense but is obliged to take measures against those events that notoriously undermine the image of the club and directly attack its values, once again showing its most absolute rejection of the offense defined in the judicial resolution," the statement added.

Aside from the jail time, Mina will also have to pay his accuser €50,000 or roughly $50,000.

The defense team of Mina stated that it would appeal the decision based on errors committed during the trial, according to the Spanish news agency EFE via the Post.

Mina was a starter in Celta’s 1-1 home draw at Granada in the Spanish league on Sunday. He has also appeared in four games last April.