Gang-rape victim says classmates blackmailed her

The boys accused of attacking the Marina Alta teen said they would send rape video viral unless she paid them €50

A TEENAGE gang-rape victim has told the prosecution that her attackers wanted €50 off her or they would pass their video footage round their school.

The alleged assault happened last July, but it took several attempts on the 15-yearold girl's part before she could bring herself to speak about her ordeal, which she finally did in February.

In order to protect the victim, none of the parties' names, nor that of their school or the Marina Alta municipality they live in, have been named.

She and a female friend had gone out with four boys from their class and, when the friend went home, the girl then alone with the boys - was forced to accompany them to a strip of wasteland where three of them took it in turns to rape her and a fourth groped her.

One of them filmed the incident and showed her the footage, saying they would send it viral unless she paid them.

She did not have any money and threatened to tell her teachers, at which point the boys claimed their threats had not been serious and they had since deleted the videos and sold the phone.

The young girl lived in terror of the school seeing the images, but it was not until a series of talks on gender violence was given to students that she plucked up the courage to tell a centre counsellor.

According to the victim, the boys said afterwards, "there's no need to cry, it wasn't that bad."

One of the accused parties had moved to France with his family in October, but was summoned to Spain to testify in court last week.

The victim gave her statement without the presence of the defence, due to the sensitive nature of the case - instead, the suspects' solicitors will present written questions for her to answer in her own time.