The case has sparked huge controversy in Mexico, where Cruz and the three other men were nicknamed ‘Los Porkys’ on social media. Judge González’s decision has been interpreted as further proof that the wealthy and well-connected can escape justice – particularly in Veracruz, which already has a reputation for corruption and lawlessness.

The girl’s father, a therapist, told the New Yorker last year that he never expected the men to be punished by the law.

“In Mexico, the last thing the system of justice provides is justice,” he said, adding that he “just didn’t trust the authorities… I knew they would fail us.”

The girl herself, who no longer lives in Mexico and suffers extreme anxiety attacks, has also experienced victim-blaming. The men’s attorney, Edgar Cinta, aggressively challenged her version of events, telling a local television channel that “she says her underwear was pulled down to her ankles, but then she has to spread her legs. I want to know how she did it”. Her supposed “promiscuity” and drinking were also claimed to invalidate her claims of sexual assault.

In an impassioned post on Facebook, the girl tore into the victim-blaming she had faced.

“I’m not hiding,” she wrote. “I’m not saying anything but the truth. I have nothing to repent.”

Images: Rex Features, Getty Images

A man has been cleared of sexual assault because he didn’t ‘enjoy’ it