Valencia court sentences footballer Rafa Mir to 8.5 years for sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman at his villa
A Valencia court on Monday convicted Elche CF forward Rafa Mir of sexual assault with penetration and injuries, handing him an eight-and-a-half-year prison term for an attack on a woman he met at a nightclub.
The verdict
The Sección Cuarta of the Provincial Court of Valencia sentenced Rafa Mir to eight years and six months in prison on Monday, finding him guilty of one count of sexual assault with carnal access and one count of causing injury. The former Valencia CF player, now with Elche CF, had denied the charges. The sentence is not yet final and can be appealed.
The assault
The court established that Mir assaulted a 21-year-old woman in the early hours of 31 August 2024 at his chalet in the Torre en Conill development in Bétera, near Valencia. The victim testified that Mir penetrated her twice while she cried, struggled to breathe and repeatedly asked him to stop, but he did not. Mir claimed in court that "everything was consensual" and that the night "just flowed that way".
Co-defendant also jailed
A second man, footballer Pablo Jara, received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for sexual assault, a crime against moral integrity and minor injuries to a second woman who was with the main victim that night. Jara was also ordered to pay a fine.
- Mir sexually assaults a 21-year-old woman at his villa in Bétera.
- Trial begins at the Provincial Court of Valencia; Mir denies the charges.
- Court announces the sentence: 8.5 years for Mir, 2.5 years for Jara.
Compensation and sentencing details
The court awarded €64,000 in compensation to Mir's victim and €6,280 to the woman assaulted by Jara. The prosecution had asked for a 10.5-year term for Mir, which the court reduced to seven years for the sexual assault and 18 months for the injuries. Jara received two years for sexual assault and six months for the moral integrity offence.
- Mir - sexual assault
- 7 years
- Mir - injuries
- 1.5 years
- Jara - sexual assault
- 2 years
- Jara - moral integrity
- 0.5 years
Trial and reaction
During the trial, held on 28 May 2026, Mir answered only his own lawyer's questions and maintained his innocence. The victim gave a detailed account that the judges found credible. The sentence was communicated to the parties on Monday by the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community via its X account.
