MADRID
CASES of sexual aggression fell by 45 percent in the Balearics last year in comparison with figures for 2008, the General Prosecutor's annual report confirmed yesterday.
Cases of sexual abuse in the Islands, said the same sources, were also down but to a lesser extent (-7.7%).
Incidence of rape in the Balearics has also dropped - there were 10 prosecutions brought for the crime last year compared to 15 in 2008.
Figures for crime as a whole in the Balearics in 2009 (99'964), said the Prosecutor's findings, were an encouraging 33 percent downturn on what they had been in 2008.
But not all crime statistics fell at the same rate between 2008 and 2009 revealed the report.
As an example, there were 1'335 cases of robbery with violence last year in the Balearics, very similar statistics to those existing in 2008, but the incidence of fraud dropped by nearly 35 percent.
Another is that physical assault fell 2.5 percent in 2009 (20'738 cases) compared to the previous year's figures but coercion apparently rose by more than 32 percent during the same period.
Theft and robbery were also down by 22.62 percent last year when 57'584 cases were registered with the General Prosecutor. The majority related to theft (26'812).
In contrast, rates of homicide were up in the Balearics, 48 last year compared to 42 in 2008. Of the total for 2009, three were murders and 15 were cases where people had been killed unintentionally.
What does raise considerable alarm, said the report, is the fact that there has been an upsurge in tax fraud in the Balearics - 22 new cases are due to be heard in court as a result of malpractice in 2009.
The Prosecutor was also keen to alert the public to a new wave of organised crime using information technology which could have far-reaching effects.
Listed specifically in the sector of high-tech offences were money laundering, drug trafficking, international fraud, and child pornography.
The Prosecutor said that the use of sophisticated equipment in the wrong hands could mean that criminals were able to avoid restrictions in different countries.