The issue of the age of consent was at the heart of a trial held before the criminal court of Saint-Malo on Thursday. In the dock, a 43-year-old man is accused of having had several sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl who was doing her 3rd year internship in his shop. According to Ouest-France, the father, in a relationship with children, would have slept with the minor six times in March 2021.
The teenager, housed in a home for children in difficulty, was reportedly "surprised" by the questions about her private life addressed by her internship tutor. She allegedly "let it happen", being groped and then sexually intercourse, explaining that she was "not comfortable".
The law has changed since the Pontoise affair
Can a 14-year-old girl express her consent to a man 30 years older than her? Especially when the latter is his internship tutor? The request for reclassification as sexual assault by the defense lawyer was refused by the court, which sentenced the defendant to one year in prison to be performed under electronic bracelet, reports Ouest-France. A judgment with a probationary stay of two years.
In France, the age of consent has been set at 15 years since the change of law in April 2021, one month after the alleged facts against the manager of the shop in Ille-et-Vilaine. The law had been changed after the outcry caused by the decision of the court of Pontoise which had ruled that an 11-year-old child was consenting when she had sex with a 28-year-old man. The man was eventually sentenced to eight years in prison for rape.
- Court
- Malo
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Paedocriminality
- Justice
- Adolescent
- Internship
- Brittany