Court in Lapland issues suspended prison sentence to youth rapist | Yle news

The victim was 13 years old at the time and the perpetrator was 16 years old. Both attended the same school.

Open the image viewer

The Lapland District Court has imposed a 22-month suspended prison sentence on a 16-year-old found guilty of raping and assaulting a 13-year-old in a school toilet.

The court also ordered the suspect to perform 60 hours of community service, pay 21,000 euros in compensation to the victim and cover all legal costs.

Compensation was awarded to the victim because of the pain, suffering and mental distress caused by the rape and sexual assault, the court said.

In its ruling, the court said no prison sentence was imposed in this case because the suspect is a minor – between 15 and 17 years old – and had no previous criminal convictions.

According to the court, no compelling legal reasons were found in the case to impose a prison sentence.

However, during the trial the court heard that the perpetrator had violently assaulted the victim, including by grabbing the child by the throat. The victim also suffered very serious psychological consequences from the attack.

The suspect had denied all allegations.

Attacked during the school day

The attack took place in a bathroom at the Ainiovaara school, in the town of Ylitornio on the Finnish-Swedish border, in the middle of the school day last December.

The victim was 13 years old and the perpetrator was 16 years old at the time, and both attended the school.

Finland has passed a new law on sexual crimes early last year, which states that sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 constitutes the rape of a child.

The incident came to light when the victim told school staff.

According to Yle’s information, the suspect in the case had a foreign background and will not return to the school. The suspect will also not be publicly identified because he was a minor at the time the crime was committed.