Court sentences repeat offender to 10 years for raping a girl

A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a minor and causing her minor bodily injury, LRT reported. The Panevėžys Regional Court also ordered him to pay the victim 10,000 euros in compensation for non-material damage.

The crime took place several years ago in a district in Aukštaitija. The court found that the man used the girl’s helplessness because of her age and physical force to have sex with her against her will.

The girl did not tell anyone about the abuse for a long time because of fear, the man’s threats and shame. The case came to light several years later, when she told her sister about what had happened and her family contacted law enforcement. Medical and psychiatric assessments found that the man’s actions had caused her post-traumatic stress disorder.

The man denied committing the crimes, but the court rejected his account as unfounded and contradicted by substantial objective evidence and witness testimony. In setting the sentence, the court noted that he had committed a very serious crime as a repeat offender and was unemployed. It also said he had not apologised or taken steps to compensate the victim.

The court changed the man’s existing pretrial measures, which included a written promise not to leave and the seizure of his identity document, to detention until the judgment becomes final. Police were tasked with carrying out the detention.

The ruling can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal within 20 days.