A Prosecutor at Bruges Correctional Court has requested a three-year prison sentence for J.Y., a 42-year-old Frenchman from Blankenberge charged with rape and sexual assault.
DNA evidence linked to the accused was found on the victim’s body, but he claims to have no recollection of the events.
The 31-year-old victim met the defendant on 26 June 2022 at a dance café in Blankenberge, West Flanders. Along with a friend, she then accompanied J.Y. to his apartment.
The woman woke up the next morning disoriented, and gradually realised what had happened. On the recommendation of her doctor, she went to the police.
According to her lawyer, the woman was not only under the influence of alcohol but may have also been drugged. “She was in no condition to give consent,” Advocate Manon Cop said as she pointed out the injuries sustained by her client.
J. Y.’s DNA was found on her body and in her underwear.
The victim says she has been suffering from post-traumatic stress ever since the accident. “What you did to me is a stain that cannot be erased,” she told the defendant. She still feels very unsafe, which greatly affects her life. “Fear is a monster that lodges itself within you,” she said.
J.Y. maintained that he did not have sexual relations with the victim until his lawyer informed him of the DNA results. Advocate Nadia Lorenzetti argued that the Frenchman had no memory of what happened in his apartment.
“He doesn’t know how to defend himself but insists he is not a sexual predator,” she said.
JY. also claimed he was drunk that night. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what happened that evening,” he said in his final statement.
The defence requested an acquittal but, alternatively, proposed a suspended sentence.
The court will deliver its verdict on 14 April.
