“rapist of Telheiras” sentenced to 25 years in prison

http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1992685&seccao=Sul

translation:

“rapist of Telheiras” sentenced to 25 years in prison

Henrique Sotero was this Tuesday sentenced to capital punishment for 71 crimes, including rape, committed against 16 victims.
The court gave as proof that Henry Sotero committed 71 crimes against 16 victims, 14 girls and two men, still condemning the defendant to pay compensation between 20 and 35 thousand euros.

Henry Sotero, who is remanded in custody since March 2010, was not present in the reading of the sentence, asked not to be there.

The prosecution had asked for an "exemplary punishment" and advocates of victims 25 years in prison. The defendant himself admitted in the trial, the authorship of the crime.

Were you charged 71 crimes, including sexual coercion, abduction, rape, kidnapping, threats, robbery and assault. After molesting the victim, appropriated, sometimes of cash and assets of young people.

The victims were almost all less than 20 years, and some were threatened with weapons.

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http://www1.ionline.pt/conteudo/149242-25-anos-pena-maxima-o-violador-telheiras

translation:

25 years. Maximum penalty for the rapist of Telheiras.
The court wiped out the thesis that Henrique Sotero suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Henrique Sotero, known as the violator of Telheiras for over two years for molesting women and girls in that area of Lisbon, was yesterday sentenced to maximum prison sentence in Portugal. "You cannot believe that killing is worse than rape." This is how the judge explained the imposition of a sentence of 25 years in jail, usually applied in cases of homicide.

Henrique Sotero was found guilty of 71 of the 73 crimes he was accused. It was given as evidence that the telecommunications engineer committed crimes of rape, kidnapping, theft, coercion, threats or assault against 16 victims, two were male, the remaining 14 were female and were between 13 and 22 years.

Sotero, who, by choice, was not present in the reading of the judgment - as victims or family members - was also ordered to pay compensation amounting to 170 thousand euros. The six victims that requested will be compensated with values between 20 and 35 thousand euros.

The court also laid to rest the notion that Sotero crimes allegedly committed by those suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Based on the testimony of two psychiatrists who accompanied him, it was concluded that his profile is not of an obsessive-compulsive disorder and also does not fit into a psychopath.

The judge used for this purpose some examples, the fact that Sotero crimes have stopped practicing after starting to receive psychiatric treatment, when the medication that could catch a boost obsessive-compulsive hence the effect would only have three or four weeks, or even Sotero the fact declared in the trial held behind closed doors: "If they had been crying, I would have retreated."

"The gap between thinking and acting" as confirmed by two psychiatrists, and the caution with which he acted Sotero, stopping the action when something unexpected happened, too, "are not suitable for an obsessive-compulsive," concluded the judge.

Nevertheless, it was concluded that the acts Sotero caused suffering to the point of the last stage, after having been identified, girlfriend and their mother stay with him "at home afraid to commit suicide."

During the trial, the engineer who was 30 at the time of arrest, confessed that he chose his victims - "had to be young and beautiful" - and was given as evidence that also studied the finger where the crimes practiced. The buildings Telheiras, Linda-a-Velha and Oeiras where he performed had similar characteristics: storage rooms or areas with limited access, there are cases where the victims themselves, residents in the building, unaware that space.

Pereira da Silva, a lawyer for Sotero, did not take the defeat of the defense or said whether it intends to appeal the decision. Just outside the Criminal Courts of Lisbon said only that still have to read the ruling.

Although prosecutors have asked for an exemplary punishment, and advocates of victims 25 years of prison, Antonio Rodrigues, one of the representatives of the victims, admitted he was surprised by the sentence. "But I have no doubt that justice has been done," he said.

No accumulation of penalties, the total number of convictions pointed to a sentence of 230 years and nine months in prison. Sotero will serve time in the prison of Lisbon, where he was already in custody since March 2010.