The trial against the Vistabella sect in Castellón has revealed a hell of sexual abuses and coercions over three decades at the La Chaparra farmhouse. Witnesses describe practices by leader Antonio, known as Tío Toni, who subjected dozens of followers, including minors, under the pretext of spiritual healings. The six defendants face sentences of up to 76 years for their alleged complicity.
The major trial at the Provincial Court of Castellón against the sect that operated at La Chaparra in Vistabella is nearing its end, with over fifty testimonies painting two opposing realities. On one hand, former followers and victims recount sexual abuses committed by leader Antonio, who died in prison in May 2022, two months after his arrest. One complainant said that as a teenager, she suffered assaults to 'cure' her ovaries, which Tío Toni claimed were 'black'. These esoteric rites and sexual practices for healing purposes implicate the six defendants, accused of facilitating minors' access to the leader's room and witnessing some acts.
On the other hand, defense witnesses describe an idyllic, democratic community free of abuses, where the leader was a 'special being' without coercive power. 'We all decided there', they affirmed, denying any recollection of such practices. One witness, father of a defendant and father-in-law of Antonio, acknowledged the abuses but exonerated his daughter, seeing her as a victim of the guru's 'therapies'.
The sect began in 1990 at a spiritual therapies center in Castellón, run by Antonio and his wife, one of the accused. It grew rapidly through word of mouth, moving in 1994 to a property in Alcora and then to La Chaparra, funded by followers' donations, such as 300,000 euros from a mother and her son. The estate housed up to 40 people in communal living, with children born there attending local schools. Outwardly, it appeared as a self-sufficient community with businesses like crafts and livestock, but internally it was governed by a hierarchy with gender-based task divisions.
The prosecution charges nine continued sexual abuse offenses, six against minors, seeking 16 to 76 years in prison for the defendants, five women including the leader's daughter-in-law. A particular accusation lawyer highlighted the group's 'longevity': 'Thirty years cannot be sustained without a network of collaborators'. Experts will testify on November 26 and 27, followed by the defendants' statements from December 1 to 3.