DNA evidence convicts man who raped US student in Madrid a decade ago

The victim, who has been identified only as S.A., returned to her home in Seattle in the days following her ordeal, which took place in April 2004. But 10 years later, Spanish police contacted her after they arrested Cristóbal Cañas Moya for his alleged involvement in a robbery. During his detention, the 35-year-old volunteered a DNA sample. This was then checked in the police’s database, and matched one taken from S.A. after she had been raped.

Speaking to the Madrid provincial court via a video link during the trial, S.A., now aged 32, explained that she had been in the Spanish capital as part of a university study program. There she had met two men in the city center in the early hours of the morning and accepted a lift home with them to her student residence in the capital’s university district. Instead, she was taken to an abandoned patch of land on the outskirts of the city.

After parking the car, the two men took turns raping her over a period of about an hour. They also stole her bag, containing money, a cellphone, and a camera. She was then left by the side of the road, and they drove off. After about half an hour, she made her way to a gas station near Rivas del Jarama, about 20 kilometers to the east of the capital. By now it was 5.30am. The staff there immediately called the police, who took her to hospital, where sperm samples were taken. She then made a statement to an investigating magistrate. Days later, she left Spain.

Cañas Moya, who was given a 27-year jail term, refused to identify the other man who took part in the rape. He insisted during his trial that the young woman agreed to have sex with him. His lawyer said the DNA test had been obtained illegally because although the accused had agreed, it had not been taken in the lawyer’s presence.