A 26-year-old resident of Grivegnée was sentenced on Wednesday by the Liège Criminal Court to 150 hours of community service after being found guilty raping one of his friends.
The court took into account the favourable psychological assessment of the defendant. He faced a sentence of five years in prison.
The incident took place on 4 November 2023 in the Liège region, during a youth committee party attended by around 30 people.
The day after the party, the victim was informed that she had had sexual relations with one of her friends in unclear circumstances.
The victim did not remember the incident, which took place during a night of heavy drinking, and suspected that she had been drugged. She also had injuries consistent with rape, as described by some witnesses to the incident.
These witnesses had recorded a video of the incident from above the toilet wall. This recording showed the victim vomiting in the toilet while the defendant forced her to have sex.
The defendant had also recorded a video of his own sexual intercourse with the victim without her knowledge. The prosecution had requested a five-year prison sentence.
In its analysis, the court found that the sexual intercourse was initially consensual, that the victim had felt unwell and that the defendant should have realised that she was no longer consenting.
After finding the charges of rape and voyeurism proven, without the aggravating circumstance of administering substances, the court sentenced the defendant to 150 hours of community service, taking into account the favourable psychological assessment of the defendant.
