A bouncer has filed an appeal against his 50-month jail sentence for the rape of a bar patron in 2019.
Towards the end of last year, the #BalanceTonBar movement was launched to share accounts of sexual abuse that had occurred in Brussels' nightlife venues, with it culminating in a hundred-person demonstration in the city's Cimetière d'Ixelles area.
While court decisions resulting from #BalanceTonBar are still few and far between, a former bouncer at one of the area's most scrutinised bars, the El Café, was sentenced to 50 months in prison in June of this year.
The victim's ordeal
On a night out in March 2019, a young woman aged 20 at the time was sexually assaulted by a bouncer at the El Café bar. According to her testimony, after the last guests had left the bar at about 04:00, the inebriated woman went to the restroom.
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She was followed into her cubicle by the bar's bouncer, who threatened her into performing sexual acts on him. After the assault, she filed a police report, following which the security guard was arrested.
The trial, sentence and appeal
His trial commenced on 14 June, during which he admitted that sexual intercourse had taken place, after being confronted with scientific evidence, telling the jury that the act was consensual.
The judges were not persuaded by his defence and sentenced him to 50 months in jail as well as to pay the victim €8,500 in damages.
The victim, however, had to relive her ordeal on Monday morning when the accused's defence stated that they would appeal the ruling.
The victim's lawyer, Caroline Poiré, told RTBF that "this demonstrates how psychologically challenging these legal procedures are for victims," adding that "it sometimes takes many years to reach a final decision, even though the defendant is allowed to employ all the remedies accessible to him."
