The public prosecutor at the Charleroi Criminal Court on Wednesday requested a nine-year prison sentence for a man in his 50s charged with raping and sexually assaulting his niece between 2005 and 2008.
In 2022, after exchanging messages with the defendant, the victim filed a complaint for sexual assaults suffered between 2005 and 2008. The victim’s uncle admitted only to two scenes of fellatio during New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2007.
At the time of the events, the young minor was sent every weekend to the defendant’s home to help the family. “He told her he’d have a surprise for her if she vacuumed properly. He then asked her to close her eyes and slipped his penis into his niece’s hands,” the prosecution said.
The other events reported by the victim, which allegedly happened in various places, are disputed. “I let her do it to me,” the accused said. “She wanted to learn and she asked a lot of questions about sexuality because she had a boyfriend at the time. She came up to me and turned me on. She asked my wife the same questions.”
The public prosecutor’s office requested a nine-year prison sentence for the uncle.
According to the deputy public prosecutor, the accused played down his behavior. “To hear him tell it, he was almost the victim of rape, since he underwent fellatio. These are not confessions, we’re still in the process of manipulation and guilt-tripping,” he said.
The defence pleaded for a suspended sentence with a reduction in the period linked to the offence.
Judgment is expected on December 20.
