Spanish footballer Hugo Mallo is found guilty of sexual assault of a rival team’s MASCOT after groping the breasts of the woman inside a parakeet costume
- The incident took place in April 2019, when Celta de Vigo travelled to Catalonia
- The victim first testified in June of that year, with Mallo giving his own testimony
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Spanish footballer Hugo Mallo has been found guilty of sexual assault after groping the woman who worked as Espanyol mascot Periquita in 2019.
The defender, who now plays for Greek Super League club Aris, was due to appear in court in Barcelona’s Ciutat de la Justicia last year, but the case was postponed and is now entering its fifth year after charges were first filed against Mallo.
The incident took place in April 2019, when Celta de Vigo travelled to Catalonia to take on the Periquitos at their Stage Front Stadium. Footage shows the former captain leading his players onto the pitch, looking around in what appears to be a tight embrace with the mascot.
The victim first testified in June of that year, and Mallo gave his own testimony a few days later in July 2019. He filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was denied.
Now he has been found guilty of the assault, by the judge, through ALSit was decided that the compensation to the victim would be approximately £844 plus interest, plus approximately £8.44 per day for 20 months, which would total just over £5,000 more.
Spanish footballer Hugo Mallo (pictured) has been found guilty of sexually abusing a woman who was a rival team’s mascot
Footage from a 2019 competition shows Mallo quickly greeting the male parakeet (left) before hovering next to Periquita (right)
Mallo must also pay the legal costs and the minimum sentence of 18 months was not imposed because there was no remorse or forgiveness on the part of the suspect towards the victim.
The 33-year-old denied the allegations and he and his representatives have said they can appeal the conviction.
In her victim impact statement, the victim (who is referred to as “Ana” but has maintained her right to anonymity) said Mallo “grabbed her breasts” after reaching under her mascot costume.
“When Hugo Mallo arrived (to greet the mascots), he gave his hand to the (male) parakeet (Periquito) as is customary, but when he reached Mrs. Ana, who at that moment was playing the role of the (female) parakeet, he put his hands under the costume and touched her breasts,” reads the victim’s initial complaint to the Catalan police, Mossos d’Esquadra – filed the day after the match in question.
‘According to the complainant, he grabbed her breasts with his hands and started making movements.’
In May 2021, the case was first classified as sexual abuse, following an intervention by the Ninth Section of the Provincial Court of Barcelona. A judge stressed that the images made it clear that “something was happening” to Periquita.
Mallo has been ordered to make a number of payments to the victim over the next 20 months
“Although it appears to happen quickly, it takes longer than the other greetings that have been made to the mascot before. So we see that something is happening with the mascot (Periquita) and the player, as the mascot moves, removes 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 has touched the ball.”
The victim is said to have left her job at the club in 2021, after working at Periquita since 2006.
The judge at the 19th Criminal Court in Barcelona ruled: ‘The suspect, with the intention of satisfying his lustful desires and undermining her sexual integrity, put his hands under the costume and touched her breasts, forcing Ana to take a step back and push the suspect away with her right hand.
