Syrian Appeals Conviction for Raping and Impregnating Eight-Year-Old

Judge in the courtroom. Male judge striking the gavel
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Chris Tomlinson

A Syrian asylum seeker appeared in an appeals court in Belgium this week after being convicted of raping an eight-year-old and getting her pregnant, forcing the girl to have an abortion.

The 27-year-old Syrian, who was indicted for raping his eight-year-old step-daughter and getting her pregnant last June, appeared at the Court of Appeal, where prosecutors have demanded his sentence be increased from eight years to ten years in prison.

Initially, the Syrian tried to claim that sex with minors was normal in his home country, telling the court the young girl had provoked him, DHnet reports.

“I confirm what I said before the investigating judge, the little girl provoked me. You tell me she is only nine years old. It’s her way of holding herself, in her head she’s older than her age. She asked me, I maintain that the child was asking for sex,” the Syrian said at his initial trial.

However, after appearing at the appeals court this week, the Syrian seems to have changed his story, claiming that he had been heavily intoxicated at the time.

“I was not well in my head when it happened,” he told the court. ” I didn’t think. I had been drinking. The child came. At that time, I did not think about the consequences. I drank, then I don’t remember anything and this thing happened.”

“Prison made me aware of the seriousness of the facts. I can’t figure it out myself. How can you get pregnant after having sex once?” he added.

The man’s lawyer noted that the Syrian had just been given refugee status in Belgium, asserting that “[i]n Syria, it’s OK to have sex with a minor.”

He also claimed the Syrian wished to integrate into society.

The horrific events of the case took place between January and March of 2021 in the small town of Doische, near the French border, and saw the young girl become pregnant, initially claiming that a 16-year-old boy had raped her.

DNA testing, however, revealed that her Syrian step-father had raped her, a fact he later admitted.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

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