أA Spanish court overturned a former doctor after he was convicted of stealing newborn babies from their mothers and giving them to families suffering from infertility.
The court convicted the doctor, Eduardo Bella, 85, but did not sign the sentence because the law does not allow an accused to be sentenced after a long period of time has elapsed.
Bella is the first person to be tried on cases of illegal adoption during the reign of fascist dictator General Franco.
Thousands of other cases are suspected.
Bella's case focused on Ennis Madrigal, who was abducted and adopted by an illegal family in 1969.
After Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War, which took place from 1936 to 1939, the fascist regime took away many children from families that were seen as loyal to the republican system and gave them adoption to families that were perceived as more deserving.
Bella faced the most serious charge of kidnapping by Madrigal in April 2012.
But because Bella was not prosecuted in 25 years of reaching adulthood in 1987, the statute of limitations has fallen, with Spanish law making the charges fall after 10 years.
Madrigal and her lawyer said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.
The prosecution was demanding that Villa be imprisoned for 11 years.
The Madrid court concluded that he had committed three offenses: kidnapping and fraud in relation to pregnancy and forging documents.
The scandal of kidnapped children continued for decades, from Franco's early years in power until the 1990s.
It was only a long time ago because of the great respect of the Catholic Church and the medical profession, and because Spanish law did not require the biological mother's name on the birth certificate.
The scandal is closely related to the church, which played a prominent role in social services in Spain during Franco's rule, including hospitals, schools and child shelters.
Priests and nuns made lists of adoptive families, while doctors were lying to mothers about the fate of their children.
An amnesty law aimed at the transition to democracy has continued to cover up crimes, with courts and politicians refusing to investigate child abductions.
