Footballer Alexis Zárate sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for rape

Argentine footballer Alexis Zárate, defender for Temperley in the first division, was sentenced this Monday to six and a half years in prison after being found guilty of rape in a 2014 incident, stated the verdict read by the court.

Zárate, former player for Independiente, 23 years old, will however remain free until the sentence is final in a second instance.

The prosecution had requested 12 years and effective imprisonment for the player who listened impassively to the verdict while the victim, a 21-year-old university student at the time of the incident, broke down in tears in front of the court.

"I was locked up for three and a half years while he was free," said victim Giuliana Peralta to the media after the verdict.

The incident occurred on March 16, 2014 in the apartment where Zárate resided and where the victim had been taken by her boyfriend of two years, Martín Benítez, who was then and still is a player for Independiente.

The victim told the court that she was raped by Zárate while sharing the bed with Benítez, who despite her screams continued sleeping next to her and did not help her.

Benítez is accused of perjury and covering up, as is another player from Independiente, Nicolás Pérez, who is also involved in the case.

- 'Career over' -

"Zárate's career is over today. No country in the world accepts a football player with a conviction of sexual abuse," said the young woman's lawyer, Raquel Hermida Leyenda.

The lawyer attributed to the economic power of football the fact that the imprisonment was not immediately effective after the verdict was announced.

"If he did not go to prison, it is so that he can play for two years and continue to make profits while the Appeals Court pronounces its decision," she said.

As the law indicates, Zárate's genetic data will go to a bank as a convicted rapist.

"This man is going to commit another sexual crime. Luckily, Zárate's DNA will be in the Argentine bank today as a sexual abuser," said the lawyer.

The lawyer announced that she will appeal the verdict to put Zárate behind bars. Meanwhile, the player left the court with his parents and will rejoin his club's training camp later on Monday.

Zárate is included in the list of players who will play against Rosario Central tonight in the local first division championship.

The defense attorney, Gonzalo Falco, announced that he will appeal the conviction to achieve his client's acquittal and considered it "normal" for Zárate to continue playing football while awaiting the resolution of his case.

"Why not live his normal life? He is convinced that he did nothing wrong, the relationship was consensual," he said.