The case had launched the debate on the non-consent of minors: a 33-year-old man was sentenced on Friday in Pontoise to eight years in prison for having, in 2017 in Val-d’Oise, raped an 11-year-old girl which he had then considered “consenting”.
“The court considers that the sexual acts were committed by moral constraint and by surprise,” said the president of the criminal court, made up of five professional judges, without a popular jury. The verdict was pronounced in public. But the three days of hearings were held behind closed doors.
Prohibition of working with children
The victim, at “11 years and 10 months did not have sufficient maturity or discernment to consent to sexual intercourse”, argued the president of the court, after a deliberation of more than three hours.
Serinte Sangare “abused the vulnerability” of the victim “to achieve the immediate satisfaction of (his) desires and (his) sexual arousal” and could not ignore the age of the child. Despite her physical appearance, “her real age is very quickly noticeable when you talk to her,” said the magistrate.
Convicted of rape of a minor, Serinte Sangare was sentenced to eight years in prison with a warrant, a decision slightly below the requisitions. He is also prohibited from working with children for ten years. Appearing free, the one who had not carried out pre-trial detention remained without reaction during the verdict. He was then to be imprisoned.
“Victory of law and justice”
Opposite the room, the victim remained stoic and discreet, surrounded by his parents and his psychologist. According to her lawyer, she has been in a state of dissociation since the events. “The family is relieved, it was a very long process that lasted five and a half years to obtain a reclassification for rape. This case has brought about a change in the law so it is also a victory for law and justice, ”reacted to AFP Me Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, lawyer for the now 17-year-old girl and her parents.
She hailed “a fair decision” and a “relief for all future child victims”. Four child protection and feminist associations were civil parties to the trial. “Eight years…it’s ten who had been required, it’s very hard to hear,” said Dylan Slama, defense lawyer. “As long as the decision is not final, we are thinking” about a possible appeal, he added.
This “emblematic” case, according to child protection associations, had resulted in the law of April 2021 setting a threshold of non-consent at 15 years. However, the accused was tried under the old law, the more severe criminal law not being retroactive.
The case that changed the law
On April 24, 2017, the schoolgirl is sitting in a park near her home, in Montmagny (Val-d’Oise). She is chatting with a 28-year-old man, who has already approached her two weeks earlier. Interim by profession, father of a 9-year-old child, the latter invites him to follow her to his building.
In a stairwell, at the request of the man, she performs oral sex on him. Then in her apartment, a relationship with vaginal penetration takes place, without violence. Once out, she calls her mother and tells her that she was raped. The initial lawsuit, for “sexual abuse”, had aroused the ire of the associations. An investigation had finally been opened.
Since the law enacted in April 2021, an adult cannot rely on the sexual consent of a child if he is under 15 (or under 18 in the case of incest).