A year ago, the Barcelona Provincial Court dismissed the complaint against the UB professor accused of sexual assault

A year ago, the Provincial Court of Barcelona dismissed the complaint against the Literature professor at the Faculty of Philology at the University of Barcelona (UB) who was accused of sexual assault by a student yesterday. The case reached the court after neither another court nor the Mossos saw any evidence of a crime. The professor is currently suspended from his duties due to the precautionary measure that the UB activated a year and a half ago when it opened an information file against him.

On Monday, the student posted a statement on various chats in which she claimed to have been the victim of sexual abuse . “I want to report advances towards me, inappropriate comments, insinuations, harassment and touching in his office, persistent sexual demands and various intimidations to the point of forcing me (locking the windows and the door and making sure there was no one around) to have sex on three different occasions,” says the young woman, who is currently studying a degree in Literary Studies.

The student reported the case to the Mossos in September 2023, but after the first investigations, they concluded that “there was no crime”, reports Rebeca Carranco . Even so, the case was transferred to the courts. The head of the 20th investigating court of Barcelona and the Prosecutor's Office also did not find “criminal offence”, and dismissed the case. The complainant appealed the decision and, in March of last year, the Provincial Court of Barcelona ruled in the same way. In its ruling, the court considers that these are consensual relationships, since in her account the student admitted “that it was she who sought on numerous occasions the approach and personal relationship with the accused, that it all began with a mutual flirtation and that, once the relationship had started, it was the accused who decided to end it, with the complainant being the one who tried very insistently to maintain it”. The Court also stated that there was no "violence, intimidation or abuse" and stated that the fact that the teacher was much older than the student "does not in itself imply any situation of superiority when the latter was of legal age."

In parallel to the complaint to the Mossos, the student also appealed to the Equality Unit of the University of Barcelona. The campus decided to open a disciplinary file against the teacher “for alleged very serious or serious infractions” and suspended him from his duties that same month, although not from pay, and offered the young woman psychological support and academic support. The file has been frozen for 10 months, says the UB, because there was an active legal procedure. Now, the university has resumed its investigation and assures that it is in the final stretch and could have the resolution in a few days.

In her letter, the student also claims that she is not the only victim of this teacher. In fact, the UB Assembly of Letters also claims to be aware of two other students who have been affected. Júlia Canyameres, a member of the assembly, believes that the UB protocol for these cases is “inefficient” and that “there is not enough support for the victims to feel safe.”

According to data from the UB, in 2023 and 2024 it has received a total of 39 complaints for cases of “sexist behaviour and sexual harassment” by the university community, including teachers, administrative or technical staff and even students. During this time, five disciplinary proceedings have been opened.

This newspaper has not been able to obtain the professor's version of events.