The accused, who has a nine-year-old son and has not been named, admitted having sex with the secondary school student in 2017 in Montmagny in the Paris region after meeting her in a public garden, but maintained she was consensual. Outrage over the allegations sparked intense public debate and led to a change in the law last year, making sex with anyone under 15 non-consensual by default and therefore rape. However, because criminal law is not retroactive, this case will be heard under previous law, meaning the court could decide the sex was consensual. The man faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The in camera trial is being conducted by five professional judges and no jury. The verdict is expected on Friday. According to the indictment, the man spoke to the girl at the park once in April 2017 and then approached her again two weeks later, inviting her back to his apartment. She gave him oral sex in the stairwell of the man’s block of flats, but when the caretaker interrupted the pair, they went to his home where a “non-violent break-in” took place. He then let her out, telling her not to tell anyone. She immediately called her mother to say that she had been rushed.
The case is back in court four years after the first trial
During questioning, the man insisted that the girl had consented and that he had no idea how old she was. She, however, insisted she told him her age, even showing him her school book to prove it. She said she had not run away or refused sex out of fear. The case was originally heard in February 2018, but the court declared it lacked jurisdiction and ordered a new investigation. After a three-year investigation, judges concluded that while there was no “violence or physical restraint”, the clear use of “moral restraint” and “surprise” was enough to put the man on trial on rape charges. The case highlighted the lack of legal clarity about consent when it came to sex with minors amid a series of scandals over France’s alleged complacency on the issue.
