ACE'S SHAME
Ex-LaLiga star found guilty of sexual abuse and fined after grabbing breasts of mascot in parakeet costume
Judge gave damning verdict
A SPANISH footballer has been found guilty of sexually abusing a rival team mascot as he led his team out for a LaLiga match.
Former Spain U21 ace Hugo Mallo, who was captaining at the time, was convicted of groping his victim’s breasts during an official greeting before the match started.
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He was fined £5,065 and ordered to pay his victim £845 in damages by a court in Barcelona.
Defender Mallo, 33, now plays for Greek side Aris Salonika.
In an 11-page ruling released today following the footballer’s one-day trial on July 11, sentencing judge Salvador Roig Tejedor ruled Mallo had committed the illicit act in April 2019 “with the intention of satisfying his libidinous desires” before his then-team’s away match against Espanyol.
The victim was working as one of two mascots for the Catalan side and was wearing a parakeet costume.
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The judge said in his written sentence: “It has been proven that the accused, Hugo M.N, around 8.30pm on April 24 2019, when he was captain of Celta Vigo Football Club, put his hand under the parakeet outfit of the female mascot and touched her breasts.
“He did this as he greeted the members of rival team Espanyol and their mascots when he reached the spot where the female mascot was.
“He acted with the intention of satisfying his libidinous desire and undermining his victim’s sexual integrity, obliging her to step back and push the accused away with her right hand.”
Mallo had denied any wrongdoing and insisted he greeted his victim in the normal way with a handshake.
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CCTV footage examined by investigators showed him with his hand on the mascot’s waist in what was described as a “contradiction” in his evidence although police weren’t able to see the sex crime in the videos they watched.
The judge described the victim’s account of events as “firm and vehement.”
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Mallo has been offered the chance to appeal his sentence and fine.
Espanyol fans have long been called Los Periquitos - Spanish for Parakeets - due to the fugitive birds that lived in the trees around its old stadium.
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