A man from Ghent risks a prison sentence of fourteen months for sexually assaulting an underage girl for months. The victim was his own girlfriend’s niece.
The criminal court on Monday considered a case in which an underage girl was molested for months by her niece’s boyfriend. The niece had gone to live with the girl’s family because she herself had a difficult home situation. “It is in this way that her boyfriend also came over more often,” said the victim’s lawyer.
The suspect took on an increasingly prominent role in the family and made himself indispensable. “He was a listening ear for those who were having a hard time, but also helped with chores around the house,” the victim’s lawyer outlined. “Everyone trusted him.”
Abuse
It is that trust that he abused. He became close to the youngest of the family: a girl who was fourteen years old at the time the facts started. The suspect took advantage of the victim’s closed and introverted character. He spent a lot of time with her and isolated her from her family and friends.
“He kissed her without consent, but he went further,” the victim’s attorney said. “My client later stated that she had never agreed to sex because she felt she had no choice. She thought it was part of it.”
The man risks fourteen months in prison for assaulting the underage girl. “It’s too late to say sorry,” he said in court. “I entered that family with the best intentions, but wrong feelings and emotions took over.”
The man from Ghent will receive his sentence on November 20.
Tags: Ghent resident sexually assaulted girlfriends underage niece months trusted Ghent
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