The prosecution has withdrawn its accusation against Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio over the alleged disclosure of private material after two young women involved in the case said they would no longer pursue legal action against the four players accused.
Asencio appeared in court alongside three former team-mates from the Real Madrid academy Ferran Ruiz, Juan Rodriguez and Andres Garcia in connection with events dating back to 2023.
At the start of the trial, the two women told the judge at Criminal Court No. 5 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria that they forgave all four defendants and would not continue with their complaint, according to Spanish newspaper AS.
Their decision allowed the public prosecutor’s office to withdraw the charge relating to the publication or circulation of intimate photographs and videos without the consent of the people shown in them. That allegation had applied to Asencio as well as the other three defendants.
However, the women’s decision does not affect the separate allegations concerning material involving a minor. Those charges are directed only at Ruiz, Rodriguez and Garcia, not Asencio.
The allegations concern the recording of a sexual video involving a minor. One of the two women was 16 at the time of the events in 2023. Under the offence in question, the case cannot be ended simply because the alleged victim withdraws her complaint or forgives the people accused.
After hearing evidence from both women, the judge temporarily adjourned the hearing.
The case originates from the summer of 2023, when Ruiz, Rodriguez and Garcia were team-mates of Asencio at the Real Madrid academy. The three players had consensual sexual relations with the two women at a beach club in the Amadores area, in the south of Gran Canaria.
The accusations relate to claims that the players recorded photographs and videos of the encounter without the women’s permission. The material was then allegedly shared with other people through WhatsApp, despite requests from the women that it should be deleted.
One of the videos later reached Asencio’s phone. He had been accused of showing it to a third person while allegedly knowing that it had been recorded without permission and that the women had asked for it to be removed.
The latest development means the privacy-related proceedings against Asencio have been dropped by the prosecution, but it does not represent a final ruling on the wider case involving the other three defendants. The court must still consider the allegations connected to the video involving a minor, for which consent to withdraw the complaint does not remove the potential criminal liability.
The proceedings are taking place before the court in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with the judge having paused the trial after the women gave their statements.
