13-year-old girl deemed to "look older" – man in Dalarna acquitted of child rape
A 25-year-old man has been acquitted by Falun District Court of rape of a child following sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. The prosecutor has appealed the verdict to the appellate court.
Man acquitted in Dalarna after sexual intercourse with 13-year-old girl – prosecutor appeals
A 25-year-old man has been acquitted of child rape by Falun District Court after having had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. SVT Nyheter reports that one of the grounds for the acquittal is that the girl, according to the court, "appeared to be considerably older than her age".
The man and girl are said, according to the charges, to have met at a location where young people with A-tractors usually gather. The district court assessed that the man "should not have realised the risk" that the girl was under 15 years old, partly due to her appearance but also with reference to the fact that she had been found alone outside during the night and had travelled in a vehicle with older people.
The judge (rådman) in the case does not share the three lay judges' acquittal assessment. She believes the man should have checked the girl's age before sexual intercourse, for instance by asking her to show identification. According to the judge, video recordings make it clear that the girl both looks and behaves as a very young person, and that the man acted negligently. She believes he should be convicted of sexual exploitation of a child.
Prosecutor Johan Wennhag has appealed the verdict to the appellate court.
– This is a directly incorrect assessment. You cannot simply rely on external factors, such as appearance. It is the adult who is responsible for doing the right thing. But it becomes as if you are placing responsibility on the child, he told SVT.
Source: SVT Nyheter