Raphaella Richer Martins Burns, an Irish resident originally from Brazil, has been fined 2,700 euros (approximately £2,325) and ordered to pay 500 euros (£430) in compensation to an 18-year-old Swedish tourist for a sexual assault that occurred in a Magaluf hotel sauna on June 3, 2025. Burns, 37, touched the teenager's genitals without consent.
Burns entered a guilty plea via video link at the Audiencia Provincial Court in Palma, the Majorcan capital. She had initially faced a potential 18-month prison sentence. The incident occurred around 6 p.m. at the four-star Hotel Martinique.
According to the prosecution's indictment, Burns sat next to the Swedish teenager in the hotel's Turkish steam bath. She then "with a lustful spirit, taking advantage of the fact that no one else was there and against his will, put her hands on his genitals and fondled them until he said: 'No, no, no' and left." The pair had previously engaged in small talk in the adjacent sauna.
Following the incident, the Swedish tourist alerted hotel staff, who subsequently contacted the police. Burns was arrested and spent a night in a police cell before being released on bail pending an investigation. She was with her husband when police arrived.
While initially denying touching the man's genitals to the police, Burns later admitted to a "misunderstanding." Her defense lawyer had argued that no crime had taken place and that the situation was a misunderstanding. A source close to the case stated that Burns believed the teenager was interested in her and removed her hand as soon as he protested.
Public prosecutors had sought a one-and-a-half-year jail term, a two-year ban from working with minors, and court costs. However, due to Burns's U-turn and acceptance of a plea bargain, the matter was resolved with a financial penalty. Spanish law typically suspends prison sentences of two years or less for first-time offenders.