Spanish footballer Hugo Mallo has been found guilty of sexual assault after he groped the woman who worked as Espanyol’s mascot Periquita in 2019.
The defender – who now plays for Super League Greece club Aris – was previously due to appear in court at Barcelona’s Ciutat de la Justicia last year, but the case was postponed and now enters its fifth year after the charge was first brought against Mallo.
The incident took place in April 2019, when Celta Vigo travelled to Catalonia to face the Periquitos at their Stage Front Stadium, and footage appears to show the former captain – who was leading his players out onto the pitch – linger in a seemingly tight embrace with the mascot.
The victim first testified in June of that year, with Mallo offering his own testimony a few days later in July 2019 – where he made a request for the case to be thrown out, which was rejected.
Now, he has been found guilty of the assult, with the judge, via AS, deciding that compensation to the victim would be around £844 plus interest, as well as around £8.44 a day for 20 months, totalling just over £5,000 more.
Mallo will also pay procedural costs, and the minimum sentence of 18 months was not imposed becuase there was no act of contrition or repentance by the accused towards the victim.
The 33-year-old had denied the accusations, and he and his representatives could appeal the conviction.
In her victim statement, the individual (who is referred to as ‘Ana’ but has upheld her right to anonymity) said that Mallo had ‘grabbed her breasts’ after reaching under her mascot suit.
‘When Hugo Mallo arrived (to greet) the mascots, he gave his hand to the (male) parakeet (Periquito) as is usually done, but when he reached Ms. Ana, who at that time was playing the role of the (female) parakeet, he introduced his hands under the costume and touched her breasts,’ stated the victim’s initial complaint to the Catalonian police, Mossos d’Esquadra – made the day after the fixture in question.
‘According to the declarant, he grabbed her breasts with his hands and began to make movements.’
The case was first deemed to constitute sexual assault in May 2021, further to an intervention by the Ninth Section of the Provincial Court of Barcelona, with a judge stressing that the footage made it clear that ‘something was happening’ with Periquita.
‘Although it seems to occur quickly, it lasts longer than the rest of the greetings made previously to the mascot, so we do see that something is happening with the mascot (Periquita) and the player, since the mascot moves, (she) takes away (her) hand from the player and stands behind the male mascot,’ the judge told the court.
‘And we can see from the position of the player that he may have incurred said touches.’
The victim is believed to have given up her role at the club in 2021, having previously worked as Periquita since 2006.
The judge at Criminal Court 19 in Barcelona ruled: ‘The accused, with the intention of satisfying his libidinous desire and of undermining the sexual indemnity of the same, put his hands under the costume and touched her breasts, forcing Ana to step back and push the accused away with her right hand.
