Court upheld eight-year sentence for rape of intoxicated fourteen-year-old, man denied guilt
The High Court in Olomouc upheld an eight-year prison sentence for Alex Čurina, who raped an intoxicated fourteen-year-old girl in Ostrava. The defendant denied guilt and claimed the victim had made the whole thing up.
Court upheld eight-year sentence for rape of intoxicated fourteen-year-old, man denied guilt
The High Court in Olomouc on Thursday rejected the appeal of twenty-five-year-old Alex Čurina and upheld his eight-year prison sentence. The man was found guilty of raping a minor, an incident that occurred in December 2023 in Ostrava. The victim was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the offence and was incapable of offering resistance.
The incident took place at night on 15 December 2023 in a residential space used by the defendant. He had previously become acquainted with a group of teenagers who were consuming alcohol. The injured party was among them. Čurina purchased additional spirits, invited the group to his place and drinking continued.
The injured party later fell into a state in which she lay on a bed in the room. At this point, the defendant began touching her and subsequently had sexual intercourse with her. He exploited her helplessness caused by intoxication.
After leaving the flat, the girl told her peers about the situation. Subsequently she informed her father upon returning home and her mother a few days later. Her mother accompanied her to the police station, where they filed a report.
The defendant defended himself by denying all accusations. He denied any sexual contact with the girl, including sexual intercourse. He claimed the victim had made up the entire event. As evidence, he argued that the girl had previous sexual experience with her partner.
Before the high court, he requested acquittal or the case to be returned for new proceedings. "I am innocent. I would like to get another chance, to have everything investigated so that I can find out the truth," he appealed to the judge.
However, the chairman of the panel, Daniel Plšek, rejected his motion. "The district court conducted all necessary evidence and evaluated it correctly. It found the injured party's testimony credible and we agree with that assessment. The defendant saw the injured party for the first time in her life on the day in question. She had no motive to harm him," he explained.
Plšek considered the sentence appropriate. "On the face of it, it might seem too strict, but it must be taken into account that the defendant has not lived in a completely orderly manner in the past. He was prosecuted for violent criminal activity and later convicted of a traffic accident which he caused while under the influence of alcohol. Because of this, his driving licence was already withdrawn. Moreover, at the time of the offence he was on probation," he stated.
The man must also pay the injured party 300,000 crowns for non-pecuniary damages. The girl suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the incident.
Source: Novinky.cz
Source: Novinky.cz