Nine African teenagers who gang raped a 14-year-old girl three times in Belgium have all been spared jail, with seven getting just 30 hours of community service.
The victim was first attacked after her 16-year-old boyfriend lured her into a forest near a social housing estate in Kortrijk where his friends were waiting in April 2024, and she was then coerced into returning twice over the next four days and gang raped by the same group on both occasions.
Her attackers also filmed the rapes, which are too horrific to describe, and shared the footage on Snapchat.
The girl went to police after the third attack, and was able to identify 11 teenage males aged between 11 and 16, who local media reported at the time were all of North African or Somalian descent.
The 11-year-old was deemed to young to be charged, another was investigated but not charged, and the remaining nine were found guilty of rape on Friday by a youth court judge, VRT reported.
But despite the boyfriend also being found guilty of threatening the girl, and the court hearing he was the instigator of the rapes, the judge opted against detention, put him on conditional release for two years, and ordered him to complete a guidance program to learn to deal with sexuality and relationships.
A second teenager was given the same sentence, while the other seven were ordered to complete 30 hours of community service.
The victim was awarded €15,000 in damages, but her lawyer Elise Standaerd said her client had been retraumatised by the court case.
“It was extremely confronting for her to see all the suspects again,” Ms Standaert said.
“Her life is simply ruined, she is not the same teenager she once was. She has been to hell and back over and over, and will carry this trauma with her for the rest of her life.”
Header image: The forest where the attacks took place (Nieuwsblad).
