Julie, who was 13, raped for two years in 2008
Court “is difficult to prove rape crime”… Supreme Court decision on the 10th
Citizens’ anger, including French women’s groups
A demonstration to eradicate rape in France in October 2017. Not directly related to the content of the article. [이미지출처=연합뉴스]
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[아시아경제 김봉주 기자] In France, 20 firefighters sexually assaulted a girl, who was in her teens 10 years ago, more than 130 times in two years, but only three people are prosecuted and citizens are angry.
According to the Guardian and others on the 7th (local time), a Supreme Court ruling on the charges of sexual assault by a group of firefighters in Paris against Julie (26, pseudonym), a teenage girl, is scheduled for the coming 10th.
At the time, 20 firefighters, including Pierre, were accused of sexual assault, but only three were prosecuted for proof of’coercion or coercion’.
The start of the incident was in 2008 when 13-year-old Julie met Pierre, a firefighter who helped her with an anxiety attack.
Pierre began taming her by finding a contact in Julie’s medical records and sending her a “kind message”.
Afterwards, Pierre asked Julie to “shoot naked with a webcam,” and Julie accepted the request. Pierre handed over Julie’s phone number to other firefighters, and they made the same request to Julie.
Pierre went to Julie’s house and raped her while her mother was away in January of the following year. In November of the same year, Julie was taken to her apartment and raped with two fellow firefighters. Since then, 20 firefighters have been sexually assaulted over 130 times in Julie’s house over two years.
It wasn’t until July 2010 that Julie confessed to her mother about the rape. Julie’s mother immediately filed a complaint with the police. Julie’s mother said, “At first, I thought Pierre came home to check on her daughter’s health.”
Two of the accused admitted to having’group sex’ with Julie during office hours. The other stated that there was a’sexual act’ in the hospital bathroom where Julie was admitted, but did not know she was a minor.
The court ordered the investigation of three firefighters accused of rape, which took eight years. No action was taken against the remaining 17 perpetrators.
In July 2019, three perpetrators were charged with “consensual sexual intercourse with a youth under the age of 15”, not rape. They claimed that “I had sex in agreement with Julie.”
The first trial court decided that there was no evidence of’coercion or violent coercion’. After this ruling, Julie even tried to make extreme choices. The family appealed, but the High Court dismissed the appeal, claiming that Julie agreed to sex.
The crime of rape in France is a separate crime of’sexual violence’ unless’coercion or violent coercion’ is proven. For the two crimes, the maximum sentence in the court is 20 years in prison and 7 years in prison, respectively.
Women’s organizations and others are fiercely protesting ahead of the final Supreme Court ruling. They plan to hold a massive protest across France on the 14th, supporting Julie and calling for the prosecution of all 20 firefighters.
The prosecutor in this case also said that he expects the Supreme Court to issue a ruling that applies the crime of rape to minors under the age of 15 through a precedent without evidence of’coercion or violent coercion’.
Reporter Kim Bong-ju [email protected]
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