Omar Bravo has not walked out of the Puerta Grande courts, in Jalisco, as his lawyer ventured to say days ago. In this Friday’s hearing, which lasted almost twelve hours, the judge determined that the former soccer player, a historical figure of the Chivas de Guadalajara, be linked to a six-month preventive detention process for sexually abusing his stepdaughter for six years. “It is indefensible,” said the victim’s lawyer, José Juan Soltero, outside the courthouse, referring to the evidence presented against Bravo. The victim collected videos and photographs documenting the abuse and threats she suffered between the ages of 11 and 17.

Leobardo Treviño, who heads the former soccer player’s defense, told the press upon leaving the courthouse that some dates on which the abuse occurred presented by the victim do not coincide because Omar was in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. “There is additional evidence to what was said that he was here in Guadalajara groping a person. With a plane ticket, boarding passes, photographs and everything we incorporated, but we could not convince the judge,” he warned. He has also assured that he will ask for a reduction in preventive detention time: “He does not necessarily stay for six months,” he assured.

Treviño stated this Thursday in an interview with EL PAÍS that his client would walk out of the hearing and that the aforementioned evidence was “appearance.” In the morning, before the start of the hearing against Bravo, he insisted on that idea: “Let it be clear that we are going to fight the non-linkage tooth and nail, with the knife between our teeth, now as footballers.” Treviño also warned that, in the scenario of a relationship, he would seek all possible resources. “There are still several options: protection, appeals and so on,” he said. The lawyer assured that the accused has not received special treatment because he is a public figure. “People hear the name of the crime (aggravated child sexual abuse) and are scared, and rightly so, because it is serious. However, within its modalities there are certain procedural and human rights that not only Omar, but any person has,” he stated.

The former forward, 45 years old and originally from Los Mochis (Sinaloa), was arrested on Saturday and is being held in the Metropolitan Penitentiary of Jalisco. The complaint against him was filed on September 30 before the Deputy Prosecutor’s Office for Specialized Investigation in Attention to Women, Girls, Boys and Adolescents. The young woman’s lawyer announced that Bravo kept her under control with threats, offered her money for the abuse and intimidated her with the possibility of leaving her mother without financial support.

The defense has been optimistic about Bravo’s judicial future and has dismissed the evidence against him. Treviño maintains that they are inconsistent: “The video is decontextualized, it does not show what they want to demonstrate. The screenshots do not show the complete conversations, only what benefits the other party,” he said. Additionally, he suggested that there were irregularities in the way evidence was obtained, which would violate due process. “We are not going to go that far,” he said about the possibility of the former soccer player facing a sentence behind bars, and assured that, in any case, the highest sentence would be three years. According to Treviño, who recognizes that child sexual abuse is a serious crime, Bravo is accused of touching without copulation, something that “changes the situation a lot.”

Soltero, for his part, rules out that the former Chivas player can request the conditional suspension of the process, since the crime he is accused of carries penalties of more than five years and does not allow that legal benefit. “If this guy comes out, imagine what awaits the minor or the mother,” he questioned. The lawyer insisted that the evidence is serious and compelling: “In the video there is no doubt that erotic sexual acts were being generated to the detriment of the minor,” he said. “The minor has been very brave, she gathered evidence for years,” he added.

Likewise, the State Prosecutor’s Office reported this Thursday that it will review two investigation folders filed against the former soccer player, without specifying the crimes or the victims. Both lawyers have acknowledged that they were unaware of these files, although Soltero assures that they are also cases of sexual abuse. These complaints, however, cannot be incorporated into the current process until they are judicialized. “At some point they could accumulate,” he explained. Treviño, on the other hand, criticized in an interview with EL PAÍS that the Prosecutor’s Office dusted off archived complaints. “It is not possible that they have dug into the old folders. There has to be a foundation and motivation to do that (…) It is not so easy to revive a case just out of interest or curiosity,” he warned.

The Secretary of the Government of Jalisco, Salvador Zamora, had already announced that the Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing other cases linked to the former soccer player. This Tuesday he pointed out that there are more complaints of sexual abuse against Bravo, although without specifying how many.

The appearance of new possible cases of abuse has also revived the controversy over a daughter that Bravo had with Claudia Casas, whom he did not recognize. Some versions suggested that this girl could be behind the current complaints, but Casas denied it. This Friday, Casas’ mother attended the Bravo hearing, where she assured that her granddaughter has a good relationship with the former soccer player and does not want to see him behind bars. She has also confirmed that the relationship between her daughter and the accused began when she was 15 years old, and when she was 21.

Bravo played with the Mexican team in international tournaments such as the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the 2006 World Cup in Germany, four Gold Cups and one Copa América in 2007. He is one of the greatest figures in the history of Chivas, where he remains the all-time top scorer. So far, the club has not commented on the accusations.