Moroccan Man Sentenced for Sexual Assault of Teen on Ferry to France

The events took place on a ferry from Morocco. The 52-year-old man is said to have sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl and even chased her through several corridors. The victim recounts that on the night of the events, while she was lying on a sofa, she had noticed the insistent gaze of an individual, but she would never have thought that it could prove to be dangerous, reports the newspaper Midi Libre.

It was when she went to the toilet that the latter followed her, preventing her from getting out. Visibly drunk and staggering under the influence of alcohol, she managed to push him back. Thinking she was out of trouble, she found herself face to face with the latter who, while masturbating, invited her to join him. Paralyzed, he took the opportunity to caress her hair and chest. Gathering all her strength, the teenager managed to alert her father, who managed to seize the man’s identity papers before handing him over to the authorities upon the boat’s arrival at the port of Sète. Placed in police custody, he denied the facts.

The man would be a regular of this type of inappropriate behavior towards women when he is drunk, according to several crew members interviewed after the arrest of the fifty-year-old. Some members even nicknamed him a "sexual predator". The man denies the facts and claims that he would never engage in such behavior with a teenager. "I have two daughters aged 10 and 13, I would never have done such a thing. I remember drinking alcohol that night, it’s true. And in the boat, when I drink, I laugh and joke with women, nothing more," explained the defendant during his appearance before the judicial court to answer charges of sexual assault and indecent exposure.

Despite all his justifications, he was found guilty. Not only was he sentenced to six months in prison with a committal order, but he was also banned from returning to France for the next ten years, since with the facts he was accused of, he was registered in the automated judicial file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses (Fijais).