Raul Asencio, 21, is under investigation alongside three of his former teammates – Ferran Ruiz, Juan Rodriguez, and Andres Garcia – from Madrid’s youth team.
The alleged incident occurred on June 15, 2023, in Gran Canaria and was reported to the Spanish police by the girl’s mother nearly two months later.
The mother claimed that one of the four men recorded an explicit video of her daughter and shared it.
The complainant stated that the sexual activity was consensual, but the recording was not.
Asencio, who started in Madrid’s Champions League match against Manchester City on Tuesday night, appealed to the Provincial Court of Las Palmas to be dismissed as a suspect, citing speculative evidence. However, the charges against him were upheld.
The court determined there were ‘reasonable indications’ of criminal activity, with Asencio facing charges of discovery and disclosure of secrets and distributing child pornography.
The court ruling mentioned that one of the suspects claimed Asencio showed him the video, with mobile records showing it was received via WhatsApp.
Phone records of the suspects also revealed derogatory conversations about the complainant.
Article 197 of Spain’s Criminal Code states that anyone found guilty of recording and sharing an explicit video of a minor faces between three-and-a-half to five years in prison.
If Asencio is found guilty of non-consensual recording, the sentence would drop to two-and-a-half to four years.
The sentence would be further lowered if Asencio is only found guilty of sharing the video without recording it.
With the alleged victim being a minor, Asencio could face a sentence of two to three years in prison and a fine.
The alleged incident occurred before Asencio made his senior debut for Madrid.
Due to injuries to Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, and Daniel Alaba, Asencio has recently broken into the first team, making his debut for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in November.
Since then, he has become a regular starter and will get another opportunity to impress at the Etihad on Tuesday night.
