The Court of Appeal in Beni Mellal (north central Morocco) convicted a man on August 2 in multiple, separate charges of raping or sexually assaulting three children. He now faces two years in prison.
The court convicted the man of indecent assault on one minor, without violence, resulting in the loss of virginity; separate crimes of luring and indecent assault on another minor under 18 without the use of violence; and a third set of crimes including luring and seducing a third minor.
Several human rights associations strongly condemned the “soft” sentencing, as it would result in impunity for criminals convicted of rape and sexual exploitation, with no deterrent effect for others.
This sentence follows upon another case of rape of a minor girl last year when Agadir’s Appeal Court sentenced six sexual predators to a mere one year in prison, with no remission, for repeatedly and systematically raping and ultimately impregnating a 16-year-old girl residing in Tata Province (central Morocco.)
Four of those defendants have been released after serving their sentences, the fifth is on the run, while the sixth (a minor himself) spent eight months in a juvenile detention center.