Raúl Asencio, 21-year-old player from Real Madrid Castilla, has been promoted to the main team after Eder Militão got injured last month, and will remain there for the full season, given the ever growing list of casualties and the club's reluctance to sign new players.
After 5 games his performance has been good, strenghtening Real Madrid's defence and even providing an assist to Jude Bellingham. However, he has been booed in his two latest games away (against Athletic Bilbao and Girona) becuase of his presumed involement in the diffusion of a sexual video of a minor.
In 2023, three homegrown Real Madrid B players were investigated after recording a video of a consensual sexual encounter. The two girls, one of them 16 at the time, asked them not to send nor spread the video, but it ended in several WhatsApp groups and private conversations.
What is Raúl Asencio's involvement in the crime?
Asencio wasn't among them in the sexual encounter, he was in a different location at the time. He was part of the four people group that spent the holiday in Canary Island in June 2023, when the incident took place, and did receive the video on WhatsApp. He didn't record the video, but he could be charged for resending or showing the video to others.
On September 2023, the four players were arrested to give a statement. They were let go but their phones' content was tranferred, and denigrating whatsapp messages toward those girls were found, at least by the three players who took part in the encounter, as reported by El Confidencial.
So far, no evidence against Asencio has been found. The trial has not started yet, but he could face criminal charges for possession of child pornography and disclosure of secrets if he is found guilty of keeping the video and sending it to others.
The three players that were present in the sexual encounter, facing more serious charges as they did record and send the video, were fired from Real Madrid. One of them, Ferrán Ruiz, plays in Girona, the same team whose fans booed Asencio last Saturday.
So far, Real Madrid respect Asencio's presumption of innocence and his teammates back him, although Ancelotti might choose to use him only on the home matches, given he will be likely hissed again outside of the Berbabéu.