Antwerp businessman who posed as a muscular Italian acquitted of rape

A man who pretended to be different on the dating site Tinder was acquitted on Monday of raping his date. The criminal court of Antwerp did not find that there was a trick.

The defendant used photos of someone else on his Tinder profile, causing his date to think she was chatting with a muscular, bearded man of Italian origin. On November 9, 2018, they met in the evening at his store in Antwerp.

The woman had been instructed via chat messages to lock the door and to blindfold herself. Then she had sex with her date. When she removed the blindfold afterwards, a completely different man stood in front of her.

The woman felt cheated and reported rape. She would never have had sex with the defendant if she had known he looked like that. The public prosecutor also believed that the defendant had used a trick, as a result of which she had not given valid consent. The prosecutor had asked for a two-year prison sentence.

According to the defense, the defendant had not used any trickery. He had simply imagined himself to be more handsome than he actually was. His lawyer also argued that consent cannot be withdrawn retroactively and had asked for an acquittal. The court found that there was no ruse and acquitted the defendant.