A former contestant on the Spanish version of “Big Brother” was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 months in prison and the producer of the television program to pay damages to another contestant for sexual assault during a 2017 edition.
In addition to the 15-month prison sentence, a court in Madrid sentenced José María López, the former contestant of “Big Brother”, to pay the victim 6,000 euros and to stay away from her for four years, because of the moral damage that caused her with the assault, which took place in the early hours of November 4, 2017, when the girl was not fully conscious, due to the effects of alcoholic beverages.
The producer of the program, the company Zeppelin Televisión SA, was also ordered to pay the victim €6,000 for showing her the footage recorded that morning, when she was alone and without warning her about what she went to see, at the same time they were filming your reaction.
The court considered it proven in a verdict cited by the Spanish media that the former “Big Brother” contestant, knowing that his colleague in the show was under the influence of alcohol “which would later render her unconscious”, removed the trousers where the girl clothes and began to make “movements of a sexual nature” under a duvet.
The now-convicted man continued the same behavior despite the girl not opening her eyes as he had asked her to and she once told him in a “feeble manner” that “I am not able”.
José María López stopped the aggression thanks to the intervention of part of the program producer, who was watching the cameras at the time and who noticed the girl’s unconscious state when she moved and her face was uncovered.
The next day, the producer showed the victim the footage, without telling her what had happened, and at a time when she was alone in a room of the program known as the “confessional”, where the contestants of the program is filmed.
Viewing the recordings “caused deep discomfort, surprise and pain in the victim and then fear and stress, which later led to a mental disorder,” the sentence reads.
This case took place in 2017, but only became known in 2019, when Spanish media revealed that the victim had been invited to comment on the footage in front of the cameras in the “confession room”.
Images of this moment were eventually released on the internet and on it you can see the girl tearfully asking the production not to show her those images again.
The now convicted participant was kicked out of the program at the time.
Source: DN
