2023-06-12 10:02:00
The sixth correctional chamber of the court of Hainaut, division of Mons, examined a delicate file during the hearing on Monday morning. A 29-year-old man, a riding instructor in Dour, is being prosecuted for rape, assault on the sexual integrity of others, cyberpredation, and possession of child pornography images. An aggravating circumstance of authority was added by the court.
Several victims, all minors, came forward during the investigation, which began in early June 2021 with a denunciation to the judicial authorities. Their lawyers presented teenage girls in psychological distress.
The civil parties denounce a ruse
Me Jérémie Berger declares that the victims denounced the same mode of predation. “At first, it started with jokes, exchanges of photos, and then it took a sexual turn, with emotional blackmail, a form of coercion, pressure, threats“, said the lawyer.
Me Berger’s client says that her daughter tried to end her life by mutilating herself. “She trusts him. He was our friend, he is worse than the devil. I hope he will have a very bad life, with suffering worse than that endured by our daughter”, enrages this lady.
Me Frank Discepoli represents a mother who discovered messages on her daughter’s phone. He imposed oral sex and sodomy on her. “He said it wasn’t rape ’cause it was from behind”, protests the criminal lawyer.
The latter invites the court to read the gloomy messages, exchanged between the 14-year-old girl and the defendant, then 26 years old. “I call that trickery! ” continues Me Discepoli, adding that the monitor was holding the young girl’s favorite horse hostage.
Me Pascal Baurain represents another 14-year-old girl at the time of the events. “This is the case of treason! He closed a trap on each of these young girls”, he says.
The rider faces seven years in prison
The Deputy Crown Prosecutor recalls that the defendant was a gifted rider, qualified several times for international competitions. He therefore aroused a certain admiration within the equestrian center, especially among young riders, and he took advantage of it.
For the prosecution, all the prejudices are established. “He put the young girls in confidence, before insisting and blackmailing them so that she would remain silent.”, declares the deputy prosecutor. He was placed under arrest warrant and detained on remand. “He admitted the relations with these young girls, stating that they were consented”.
The deputy prosecutor requested a sentence of seven years in prison, after a long and weak indictment given the gravity of the facts.
Immaturity and lack of sex education
Me Laura Danneau has the delicate mission of defending the former rider, reconverted in the building, and free as the air. “His attitude today is that of a man who is ashamed “, she says. It is true that the defendant was not very talkative during the hearing instruction.
At the time of the events, the defendant had a romantic relationship with a young woman, who was 14 when they met. He was then 18. Obviously, he was attracted to young girls aged 14. “He can’t explain why he’s attracted to girls that age”, says the lawyer, who recalls that the experts have highlighted a great immaturity in the defendant. According to his lawyer, the defendant’s sex education was non-existent, and even a taboo subject in his family.
Finally, the tricks and threats are disputed by the defendant, who declares that the relations were consented. The lawyer affirms that her client has realized the gravity of the facts and pleads a sentence accompanied by a probationary suspension.
Judgment in a few weeks.
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