Giovanni Berton, a 77-year-old man from Dison, was sentenced on Friday by the Verviers criminal court to a nine-year prison term. The court found him guilty of sexual offenses against an 11-year-old girl.
The defendant was found guilty of having attacked the sexual integrity of the child but also of having raped her.
The facts were revealed on July 4, 2022, when the police were called for an altercation between two men at a horse farm. A father who had just learned that his daughter had been the victim of touching wanted to do battle with the owner of the premises, the alleged perpetrator.
For about two years, they have been neighbors. The teenager, passionate about horses, regularly visited the breeding of the septuagenarian.
“She first confided in her grandmother, because she feared her father’s reaction. She explained to him that the septuagenarian gave her kisses and touched her breasts. A few days later, she will complete her statements by indicating that she was penetrated by the finger but also by the sex of the defendant. »
The defendant, who recognized kisses but also having touched the girl’s breasts, formally contested the rape. His lawyer demanded his acquittal for these preventions. A line of defense which was not followed by the court which considered that all the prejudices were established. In addition to the 9-year prison sentence, the defendant must compensate the victim for a provisional amount of 5,000 euros and each of the parents for a provisional amount of 2,000 euros.
The court did not order the availability of the sentence enforcement court as requested by the prosecution.