The Office of the Public Prosecutor (OPP) on Wednesday asked the Arlon Criminal Court for a 10-year prison sentence for a man born in 1995 accused of raping three young women, two of whom were minors at the time.
The offences date back to 2020 and 2021, when the man used to go to a café frequented by manga fans. It was there that he met the young girls before contacting them again on social media.
"Inside the café, he was described as a predator, circling his prey," the public prosecutor explained.
"They shared the same passion for manga, but very quickly he brought up sex," the prosecutor added. "Although the 14-year-old girl made it clear that she did not want to have sex, he pressured her. She gave in and invited him to her home, where they had sex."
The OPP said this was rape given the young age of the victim.
Another young woman, barely of legal age, had sex with the defendant while under the influence of alcohol. "She was therefore unable to consent," said the prosecutor.
The third victim was 15 years old when the defendant invited her to stay at his home during the Made in Asia convention they were attending. Over that weekend, he raped her several times, according to the prosecution, which described the defendant as a sexual predator.
The defence pleaded not guilty to most of the charges, arguing that the defendant had had relationships with the girls and never used deception to achieve his aims.
