Lanzarote paedophile sentenced

A court in Arrecife has sentenced Lanzarote paedophile, Michael Roland Williams, to five years in prison and with a fine of €20000 to be paid to the young victim for “moral damages”.

To read more about the trial click here: Prosecution requested seven years for Michael Roland Williams, Lanzarote

La Sección Sexta de la Audiencia Provincial (The Provincial Court) has also imposed six years probationary terms once he leaves prison.

Williams was sentenced for sexually abusing his partner’s daughter while she was eight and nine years of age. The abuse took place in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote, while he was living with the young victim’s mother. However, he was acquitted of a crime of exhibitionism of which he was also accused.

The court, after examining all the evidence, considered that the accusations were “proven”. As before, we won’t include the exact details of the abuse out of respect for the young victim and her family, although the court and the Spanish press have detailed them during the legal process.

The court condemned Williams for continued sexual abuse and explained that they did not have “any doubt as to the reliability and truthfulness of the minor’s testimony”, despite the defendant’s denial of the abuse during the trial; accusing the mother of acting “out of spite” and committing “a huge fraud” against him of “about 250,000 euros” and his claims that she used this as an opportunity to “get rid of him.”

“There is no motive of resentment or revenge,” said the court, which pointed out that the story of the child “was corroborated by the expert psychological tests,” noting that “according to forensic psychologists,” the testimony of the girl “presents criteria of credibility and validity”. In addition, the court stated that “it can not be said that the mother of the minor has influenced her daughter to lie” and that “in no way has the existence of this alleged fraud” been proven by the defendant.

The Provincial Court continued, “there is no reason that could justify or explain that the child is inventing the related facts” and recalled that the defendant himself admitted in the trial “that explained to the child the operation of the vibrator”…

Monitored for six years after the prison sentence

Therefore, the court sentenced Michael Roland Williams to five years in prison, as well as forbidding him from approaching the minor “within a distance of less than 200 meters” or communicating with her “for a period of six years”.

Once the prison sentence is served, “supervised release” will also be imposed, which prohibits him from approaching the victim or communicating with her for another six years, as well as banning (during that time) “any activity that involves having minors in their custody or care .” The court has also insisted upon ” the obligation to participate in sex education programs for paedophiles ” – also for six years. Finally, the defendant is condemned to compensate the minor “with the sum of 20,000 euros for moral damages”.

Undue procrastination

The prosecution had asked the court grant Michael Roland Williams six years in prison for the continued crime of sexual abuse. The defence requested this because from the time of the minor’s declaration until the issuance of the forensic psychological report “a little more than a year and three months passed”.

However, the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court believes that this mitigation should only be seen as “simple” and not as “very qualified” as argued by the defense of the accused, which could have meant a lower penalty. The court dismissed this, stating that it was not an extraordinary length of time, nor was the defendant held in prison whilst awaiting trial.

Michael Roland Williams has ten days to appeal the verdict.

Spanish Press

• La Voz de Lanzarote

Note from Editor: We hope that he uses his time in prison wisely, and that no other children are ever tainted by him again. We wish the young girl and her family all the best for the future and hope that together they can heal, and that their community and loved ones rally round to support them after what has been a horrific period of their lives.

Elle Draper

Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business - Gandy-Draper. Born a "Norverner", she then spent most of her life "Dann Saff" before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle's loves are Alan, the internet, their three bouncing dogs, good food, and dry white wine - although not necessarily in that order.