The Liège Court of Appeal sentenced a 27-year-old man from Liège to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for the rape and sexual assault of a nine-year-old girl. The victim, the defendant’s step-daughter, fell pregnant with twins following the rape.
The investigation began after the young child received an abortion from healthcare professionals. At the time, the child was eight weeks pregnant. DNA tests carried out on the foetuses revealed that the child’s mother’s husband was the father.
Other tests carried out by the police established that the rape had occurred at the end of January 2021, when the girl was just nine-years-old. The girl had only begun to menstruate just a few months prior. The mother of the child became alarmed when the young girl suddenly stopped menstruating, leading to the discovery of the rape and pregnancy.
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The defendant initially claimed that the young girl had asked for sexual relations from him. He later changed his story before the Court of Appeal, confessing to his crime, but stating that he no longer remembered the incident.
The general prosecutor’s office had initially requested a 10-year prison sentence for the suspect, but the court found this to be insufficient, sentencing the defendant to 15 years in prison.
Victims of sexual violence can call 1712 anonymously, chat on seksueelgeweld.be (in Dutch), consult the website (in Dutch, French and German) for more information, or can visit one of the centres to receive help after experiencing sexual violence.
