Judge gives new test to prove sex crimes

MEXICO: Prosecutors are appealing a court ruling that dismissed sexual assault charges because there was no proof the suspect acted ``with lascivious intent,’' and the judge in the case had been suspended.

The ruling in the southern state of Veracruz shocked many in Mexico, where the case already had become emblematic of the impunity often enjoyed by wealthy males.

The teenage victim testified she was dragged into a Mercedes car between two young men and was molested

The judge granted to one of the defendant’s an injunction to dismiss the charges because ``an incidental touching or fondling will not be considered sexual acts, if proof is not presented that it was done to satisfy a sexual desire’'.

Judge Anuar Gonzalez Hemadi also said the fact the victim was able to move to the front seat of the car after pleading with her attackers to stop proved she was not ``defenceless’', which he claimed the law required.

The Veracruz state prosecutors’ office said it ``roundly’' disagreed with the ruling and would appeal because ``it violates the rights of a sexual attack victim’'.

The Federal Judiciary Council, which is Mexico’s court oversight agency, said that in such serious cases, the defendant would remain in jail while the appeal is decided. It said it had opened an investigation and suspended the magistrate.

No charges were brought against the wealthy men in their 20s until the girl’s father started a public campaign denouncing them.

They became known derisively through social media as ``Los Porkys’', after the 1981 movie about misbehaving United States teens in the 1950s. – AP