The Barcelona Provincial Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the complaint filed on December 22 by the University of Barcelona (UB) against Professor Ramón Flecha and his CREA research group. As elDiario.es has learned, the public prosecutor’s office accepts the complaint for processing and opens an investigation to decide whether to bring the case to justice and, if so, with what charges.
On December 22, UB announced that its internal report had detected “very serious” events that could constitute “behavior of sexual coercion, psychological coercion, abuse, personal and professional exploitation, as well as humiliating and intimidating behavior” and that this would fit with the existence of a “high-control coercive group.” Although the center has not yet completed its internal investigation, it has decided to submit its first report to the prosecutor’s office as a precautionary measure. A day later, CREA announced its dissolution.
Sources from the Barcelona Public Prosecutor’s Office confirm that the investigation procedures will be carried out by the new section which will be in charge of cases of sexual violence as well as violence against children and adolescents.
In addition to the complaint filed with the public prosecutor’s office, the UB removed three other professors linked to the CREA group. Ramón Flecha had already been suspended from his position as emeritus professor last July, after an investigation carried out by elDiario.es in collaboration with RTVE Noticias, Ràdio 4-RNE and Infolibre revealed the testimony of several subordinates who indicated that Flecha had forced them to have sex, give him massages or perform domestic tasks while their professional careers depended on him. It was then that the University of Barcelona opened an internal investigation.
As part of precautionary measures, the UB has also frozen the academic and professional merits suspected due to the investigation into the CREA group, so that, for the moment, they are not taken into account in the professor selection processes. They also include psychological support measures for all those affected at the center, as well as the transfer of case information to other universities where the research group is present.
The report that the UB presented to the prosecution includes the testimonies of 16 people and includes a psychological expertise on the reliability of the testimonies.
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