Cuban mother denounces that deputy school director who raped her daughter in Holguín is free

A Cuban mother reported that her 15-year-old daughter was raped by the deputy director of her school, the Polytechnic Panchito Gómez Toro, in Holguín, and currently, the perpetrator is out on bail with no trial date set.

The incident occurred on December 7th, and to date, the girl has had to appear before instructors and prosecutors four times to remember what happened that day. The man spent only one month in provisional prison and is currently free on the streets because his lawyer bailed him out with a bond of 15 thousand pesos, explained the mother, identified on Facebook as Evis Tamayo.

My family cannot sleep because this man is out on the streets with no trial date, even though six months have passed since the incident.

The girl is a minor with a mental disability. Although her chronological age is 15 years old, her mental age is assessed as being 10 years old.

The events date back to December 7th when the man, using his authority, took the teenager to a classroom located on the fourth floor of the school at 7:00 am, locked the door with a padlock, and engaged in non-consensual sexual relations with her as the girl wanted to leave but he did not allow it.

However, Cuban justice understands that if the minor did not scream, it is not a rape but a lesser offense.

"Today I feel abandoned, disappointed, frustrated, but not defeated," expressed the mother of the girl in a post on Facebook.

Tamayo questions whether if his daughter, who has been treated by psychologists since she was 5 years old due to various disorders, diagnosed with a mental age of 10 years, is harassed by the school's assistant principal, and under unfounded pretexts he locks her in a classroom on the fourth floor at 7 am, locks the door with a padlock, does not comply with the teenager's request to leave, tells her to pull down her skirt, and penetrates her... Is this act considered as sexual assault? Or does it depend on CONSENT", the woman asks.

The mother comments that after the rape, the girl changed overnight. Tamayo began to notice that her daughter slept poorly and talked in her sleep. Finally, she found out about the incident because the girl mentioned it to a friend from the polytechnic school, who then told her mother, who in turn told the school's base guide. This teacher was the one who called her and informed her of what had happened.

Once the center became aware, it took immediate action with the deputy director. "Education acted quickly and well and has a very good and complete record. Those who are slacking off and hindering the case are in the Police. Education conducted a thorough investigation and immediately decided to remove him from the system. As for the administrative part, I have no complaints," Tamayo pointed out in a conversation with CiberCuba.

She questions that her daughter, with a mental age of 10 years old, can exonerate the school's deputy director from responsibility, solely because the law understands that in the absence of violence, force, or intimidation it is not considered rape, but a lesser offense punishable by 1 to 3 years in prison.

The mother also questions how it could be understood that there was consent, taking into consideration the disability of her daughter, and also the fact that the deputy director is significantly older and more mature.

This is not the first case of a Cuban mother denouncing the leniency of the Cuban justice system when it comes to judging rapists. In June 2021, CiberCuba published the case of a 13-year-old girl who suffered a gang rape, and instead of imprisoning the rapists, they were released, and they started a campaign to discredit the girl. Under media pressure, the process was accelerated, and the six rapists were sentenced to 21 years in prison.