Rape

– France: Court acquits Cape Verdean man who Impregnated 11 y/o Girl because “there was No Coercion”:

Viol sur mineurs : Justine*, victime sans coupable https://t.co/IEn5XYnwRE

— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) November 11, 2017

French newspaper Le Parisien published a story on 11 November, which it updated on the 14th, about the verdict in a rape case. The accused was acquitted of raping a minor by the jury of the Criminal Trial Court (Court of Assizes) of Seine-et-Marne, East of Paris. At the hearing, the Advocate General had requested eight years’ imprisonment plus psychological evaluation. The verdict has now been appealed by the Prosecutor General of the Court of Appeal of Paris. In response, Dominique Laurens, the prosecutor of Meaux, said:

“Up to 15 years, a child must be protected. You cannot obtain sex [in a normal way.] Its consent is not informed.“

The case was started when, in January 2010, Justine (a pseudonym), at the time a mere 11 years old, was found out to be pregnant by her family. Until that point, the child had never mentioned the ‘bad meeting’ that had taken place one evening in August 2009, with the then 22-year-old suspect, who is originally from Cape Verde.

Originally from Congo, Justine, then living in Nevers in the North-East of France, spent her holidays with her uncle in Seine-et-Marne. When she was playing at the foot of the building with her cousin, a man approached her.

Justine always claimed that she told this stranger her age. Nevertheless, he asked her to accompany him to the park and she accepted. There, he began to undress her and asked her to lie down on the ground. He held her hands and penetrated her. She asked him to stop, but he continued. A few minutes later, she returned to her uncle, not saying anything. Justine gave birth in May 2010, to a little boy, who was placed with a foster family.

Read moreFrance: Court acquits Cape Verdean man who Impregnated 11 y/o Girl because “there was No Coercion”