Three Moroccan nationals who arrived in Ceuta during the recent mass crossing from Morocco have been arrested over their alleged involvement in sexual assault offences, against a backdrop of courts and law-enforcement agencies investigating several complaints filed since the end of July. The alleged victims are also migrants.
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The arrests come after several underage Moroccan girls reported having been sexually assaulted after crossing the border and staying in the autonomous Spanish city.
By 11 August, the National Police had recorded six complaints lodged by minors, the force confirmed to the maldita.es news portal.
Both the complainants and the alleged assailants are thought to have arrived from Morocco during the late July mass entry.
The cases are being investigated individually in order to clarify the circumstances of each complaint and determine the responsibility of the alleged perpetrators.
Two in pre-trial detention
Two of the three detainees remain in pre-trial detention, while a judge has ordered the expulsion of the third, according to the information available on the court proceedings in Ceuta.
The two prison committals relate to cases involving minors. One of the suspects is accused of an alleged sexual assault involving penetration and of an offence against public health, as he is also said to have forced the victim to sell drugs.
Ceuta’s Investigating Court No. 4 ordered that he be remanded in custody without bail.
The other imprisonment was ordered by Investigating Court No. 5. In this case, police are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving touching another minor.
The third case concerns an adult woman who reported being groped. The suspect was in an irregular immigration status in Spain and Investigating Court No. 4 ordered his expulsion.
Several complaints since the mass crossing
The situation of underage girls who arrived in Ceuta has become one of the most sensitive issues in the migrant influx. Medical services had already treated at least four underage migrants last week for possible sexual assaults, while courts in the city had received at least six complaints related to these offences.
One of the first investigations to come to light was opened after a minor who had entered Ceuta during the mass arrival reported an alleged sexual assault.
The National Police then took charge of the inquiries to establish what happened.
The investigation into these incidents is under way as the authorities try to manage the situation of the minors still in Ceuta and determine the conditions in which the alleged attacks took place.