Former basketball coach Mario Lopez faces 14 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor

The former coach of the Lointek Gernika team, 18 years older than the victim, is accused of raping a player for three years

Mario López, former coach of the Lointek Gernika basketball club, sat in the dock this Tuesday morning accused of a crime of continued sexual assault of an underage player for more than three years. He faces a 14-year prison sentence from the prosecution, which the private prosecution has raised to 18 years for events that occurred between 1998 and 2001, when the victim was between 13 and 16 years old and her coach was 18 years older than her. The former athlete suffered, according to her complaint and the prosecution’s brief, numerous episodes of sexual violence by López. She was raped and received continuous pressure and threats. The case is in the hands of the Bizkaia Court, which has started the trial against the defendant today. All sessions will be behind closed doors at the request of the victim to guarantee her privacy.

Groups of women gathered at the entrance to the Palace of Justice in Bilbao in a protest organised by the feminist group from Gernika (Bizkaia). “First of all,” said Arlette Apraiz on behalf of the women gathered, “we want to show our gratitude to the victim.” “We believe you,” she emphasised to journalists. The victim, who is now 39 years old, filed the complaint in June 2023, two decades after the ordeal she suffered when she was a child and played basketball under the orders of Mario López. He coached her from the age of 10 until she was 16, first in the Allende Salazar public school team in the Biscayan town and then in Lointek Gernika.

The prosecution’s indictment states that since 1998 (she was 13 and he was 31) and for the following three years, the coach used to take her to his house “under excuses”, where he sexually assaulted the minor and they were “motivated by the intimidation she felt towards the defendant”. These assaults came to light when EL PAÍS published the victim’s testimony in mid-December 2023 and that Mario López, still active, was being investigated for a crime of continued sexual assault. The Gernika Feminist Network wanted to thank the complainant this Tuesday “for the path opened by that decision she made to break the silence, for forcing us to talk about the issue, for making it impossible to look the other way, for giving names and surnames to impunity”.

The defense of the former basketball coach has pointed out that he, in his statement before the court, denied having sexually assaulted the complainant and limited his relationship with the then minor to contacts of a “platonic” nature, “nothing”, walks on the beach and love letters from the girl. During the session, the victim also testified and the psychologist who has treated her for post-traumatic stress disorder during these years gave testimony. The lawyer for the prosecution has decided not to make statements to the media until the sentence is handed down.

The accused was coach of the Lointek basketball team for more than two decades. The club decided to fire Mario López at the end of 2023 , just after this newspaper reported on the case involving the coach, who had also been the coach of Spain’s women’s basketball team in the under-16, under-18 and under-19 categories, with which he won five European championships and two world runner-up positions.

“This process does not end with this trial or with the sentence,” said Arlette Apraiz, who added: “We will continue to fight for feminist justice. A justice based on the recognition of what happened, focused on reparation for the victim and, ultimately, a justice that offers us more guarantees than sentences.”