Spanish soccer player Santi Mina sentenced to 4 years in prison for sexual abuse

Striker Santi Mina has been sentenced to four years in prison by Spain. The Prosecutor's Office had initially requested a conviction for sexual assault on a woman, but the Celta de Vigo soccer player was finally sentenced by the Court of Almeria for sexual abuse. The events occurred last June 18, 2017, in the Almeria town of Mojácar.

The court decided to acquit Mina, 26, of the crime of sexual assault, for which the prosecutor had requested eight years in prison. However, in addition to the final conviction for sexual abuse, the striker was ordered to stay 500 meters away from the victim for at least twelve years and to pay compensation of 50,000 euros.

Santi Mina, condenado a 4 años de prisión por la Audiencia de Almería por su delito de abuso sexual a una mujer en Mojácar en 2017. Además, se le impone una orden de alejamiento durante 12 años y 50.000€ de multa. pic.twitter.com/v2KDDyIjvy

— Manu Heredia (@ManuHeredia21) May 4, 2022

At the time, Santi Mina was a Valencia player and was on vacation in Andalusia with his friend and former teammate of the Celta youth team, David Goldar, when he abused the victim. The soccer player told the court that it was "a consensual sexual relationship." The ruling will be appealed by Mina's defense, who during the trial held a month ago alleged consent on the part of the victim.

His friend and current C.D. Ibiza player, David Goldar—also a former Vigo player—was exonerated of any criminal responsibility and has been acquitted of the crime of sexual assault he was accused of because there wasn't enough evidence tying him to the incident for which his teammate was found guilty.

Mina was immediately removed from the Celta de Vigo team, which issued a statement in which it defended the "player's right to defend himself" but announced that it would take measures to protect the "image of the club," according to its president Carlos Mouriño in a statement issued on the team's social media.

Declaración del presidente del RC Celta. pic.twitter.com/BNpb5L3X6L

— RC Celta (@RCCelta) May 4, 2022

"As a result of the sentence of the Third Section of the Provincial Court of Almería, issued today, RC Celta has decided to open a disciplinary file to the player Santiago Mina to elucidate his labor responsibilities in view of this resolution. For this reason and as a precautionary measure, it has been decided to provisionally remove the player from the first team's training sessions, without prejudice to his continuing to carry out the activities indicated by the club," the statement reads.

"RC Celta respects the right of defense of the player, but is obliged to take action against those facts that notoriously undermine the image of the club and directly undermine its values, showing once again its absolute rejection of the crime defined in the court decision," he concludes.

Santi Mina had seven goals and three assists in La Liga with Celta, while he scored two goals in the Copa del Rey, with a pair of assists. His best season was in 2018, whn he scored 15 goals for Valencia.