The Liege Correctional Court on Wednesday found a 32-year-old man guilty of raping a young girl who said she had been unable to give her consent because she was drunk at the time.
However, the court did not sentence the man because of the number of years that have elapsed since the incident.
The events took place on 11 March 2017 in Comblain-au-Pont. The defendant and the victim had spent the evening in a café before going to a friend’s home. The various people involved were drunk and the evening ended with the defendant and the plaintiff having sex.
The young woman filed a rape complaint the next day, saying that she was unconscious when the sex act began, so she was not in a state to give her consent or to oppose it.
The defendant contested the facts, because, being drunk, he did not remember not having obtained her consent. However, he admitted having sex with the victim, since a sample of genetic material confirmed the presence of his DNA.
The court found that the facts had been established but, because of the time that had elapsed since the incident, issued a simple conviction without penalty against the man.
