He played for Celta Vigo at the weekend, now he’s going to jail. Santi Mina has been sentenced to four years for sexual abuse

A beautiful example of how your life can be turned upside down in a flash is Santi Mina. Until this weekend, the Spaniard was a league footballer at Celta Vigo, now he will serve 4 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman on June 18, 2017.

This morning, a court in Almería made the decision. Mina will serve four years in prison, while also being banned from approaching the victim for 12 years for 500 meters and also paying a fine of 50,000 euros.

Santi Mina’s representatives immediately announced that they would appeal because they said the sentence was not modified by the law. In addition, they believe that there were serious errors in the assessment of the evidence and the tests caused and will therefore proceed with the appeal in the coming days.

The lawyer Ivan Bolaño, who privately accused the Celta Mina striker, announced today that he will ask for the footballer to enter a provisional prison after being sentenced to four years in prison for the crime of sexual abuse.

The sexual abuse was alleged to have taken place in Mojácar in the summer of 2017. Mina, who was playing for Valencia at the time, was spending a holiday there with his Celta youth teammate David Goldar.

During the trial, doctors and psychologists said the victim’s genital injuries were consistent with and likely caused by sexual assault. In addition, they claim that the victim suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is directly related to the facts that were reported during the trial.

Santi Mina is an offspring of Celta Vigo, from where he transferred to Valencia in 2015. There he had individually successful seasons, but due to the financial problems of the club, he returned to Celta Vigo in the summer of 2019. Once again, he has become a key player, with an 8+3 record in his first season and even 13+3 last season, while this season he has already scored 9 goals and 5 assists.

But he won’t add more and his career is probably over at 26 years old. Celta Vigo suspended him after the verdict, but did not terminate his contract.

“RC Celta respects the player’s right to defend himself, but it is obliged to take action against events that notoriously undermine the club’s image and directly attack its values, thus once again showing its absolute rejection of the offence defined in the court ruling,” the Galician club said on its website.

Source: Celta Vigo