A Barcelona court has ordered the preventative detention, without bail, of a couple accused of severely abusing their one-month-old son, including charges of sexual assault and aggravated injury. The decision was made Friday by Judge Guillermo Benlloch Petit of the Section of Violence against Children and Adolescents of the Barcelona Court of First Instance, according to a statement released by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC).
The parents, a 42-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman, were arrested Wednesday in Barcelona, according to a separate statement from the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan police force. They were subsequently brought before the court Friday.
The infant is now under the care of the General Directorate for Prevention and Protection of Children and Adolescents (DGPPIA), a branch of the Catalan regional government, the TSJC confirmed. The court’s decision cites alleged offenses of “habitual mistreatment, particularly serious injuries and sexual assault,” committed against the child.
The newly established Section of Violence against Children and Adolescents, located in Barcelona’s Justice City, began operating at the end of December 2025, as mandated by Spain’s Organic Law 8/2021, which calls for the specialization of judicial bodies handling cases involving minors. Spain currently has only three such specialized sections, located in Barcelona, Madrid, and Murcia. A similar section planned for the Valencia region has not yet been implemented.
The investigation remains open and is being conducted by the Office of Attention to Minors, the Mossos d’Esquadra stated.
