Martinho Ramos Soto, a music teacher from Ourense sentenced to 13 years in prison for repeatedly raping a student, continued teaching until August 2024 despite a complaint filed by the minor three years ago. “He was walking around freely, with potential victims all around him “All the time,” he explains 20 minutes Marcha Mundial das Molleres, the coordinator who mobilized at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year so that Xunta prevented his reinstatement, even though the Galician government had already suspended him from his duties a month before.
The victim told the center in September 2021 what happened with Martinho and filed a complaint with the Civil Guard. Neither the teaching team nor the judiciary took any kind of precautionary measures against him or protection for her. “The girl was unprotected throughout the operationIt is even a violation by the institutions,” the coordinator explains, accusing the rest of the teachers of “complicity” in informing the minor. That they “were his imagination” and that they “trusted him completely”as stated in the sentence. For this reason, they denounce that “they have no responsibility.”
Suspended from work and salaries
Marsha Mundial das Molleres blames that the rest of the children were put in danger because of this Martino “continued teaching during the following years.” First at the school where contact with the victim began, located in the O Carballino area, then at another center in the city of Ourense, “although it underwent open and advanced procedures.” The coordinator noted that “Zonta did not open any disciplinary file against him,” stressing that Ramos was a sixth-grade teacher, the same year in which the attacks against the victim began.
The regional government did not act until the first ruling was issued in July 2024, because it at all times followed “the instructions of the judicial authorities who did not decide on precautionary measures” for the person under investigation. “Education temporarily suspended the teacher from his duties in August due to the seriousness of the events.”they explain to 20 minutes From the department. However, Ramos continued to receive his salary as a public employee until “the application of the final ruling of the Regional Court of Ourense,” which imposed a prison sentence “which means suspension of work and salary.”
‘It took a while for people to accept the news’
Martinho Ramos has built a good character for years and no one doubted him. “He was a well-known and well-known person in Ourense, and he had a great presence,” they explained from Marcha Mondial das Molres, who They were “shocked” by the news “because we have a close relationship with him.” “He was an ally of the women’s movement,” they point out. The professor participated in various feminist activities and supported women’s struggle, in addition to being a soldier in Ain Komon and Ain Maria.
This social recognition could have caused the city to “not react well at all.” “The character he created was inconsistent with what was known about the case and… “It took a long time for a lot of people to accept the situation.”They point out and believe Oriens should have learned that “even if it was a well-known person, a family member or a friend, it could never make us question the woman’s story.” Or in this case, the case of a girl who suffered abuse from her teacher for years. “You have to focus on him, not the victim“, they add.
Violations and “sadistic practices” for four years
Ramos worked as a school teacher in Ourense He assaulted a student for four years. He knew the vulnerable situation of the minor, because he had taught her from kindergarten to primary school. He was in the sixth grade of this final stage when he contacted her At that time I was 12 years old. According to the sentence, he concealed his “true identity and appearance.” He pretended to be a child who was trying to “help him solve his problems.”
Thus, he gained her trust and began asking her for “naked pictures and videos.” On several occasions, the girl insisted on revealing her identity. He relented after some time. He met her in music class at the center and she found out he was talking about her teacher. “The minor was left in a state of shockThe accused hugged her, told her that he loved her very much and that he supported her, sat her on his lap and kissed her on the mouth. From that moment on, it happened I met her on several occasions at school“The sentence says.
Martino had sexual intercourse with the girl, giving her “slaps and whips, as a sadistic practice.” He also stayed with her outside of school Up to three times. He told her where her car was parked and the little girl had to get into the trunk to travel in hiding. During these meetings, he mistreated the victim and even raped her on one occasion He beat her and left her in the mountains.