Moroccan Man Sentenced to 5 Years for Paris Rape Spree Near Ménilmontant

In addition to this conviction, Abdellah O. is now subject to a 10-year ban from French territory. The acts attributed to the defendant took place between May 2012 and June 2013, within a radius of one kilometer around the Ménilmontant station in Paris (20th). These are two rapes and two attempted rapes. At the time, the defendant was a baker, and attacked brunette women, alone, in skirts, just before dawn, reports Le Parisien.

During his appearance before the Paris Assize Court on Friday, Abdellah was acquitted of the rape of a young woman, Laureline*, for lack of "decisive evidence", and of the attempted rape of Géraldine Jeffroy* reclassified as sexual assault. A source of disappointment for the civil parties. "My client is very marked and disappointed, because her status as a victim has not been recognized," explained Serge Money, Laureline’s lawyer. "I have the feeling that for the jurors, who were mainly men, I would have had to fight less for the attempted rape to be established," laments Géraldine Jeffroy.

On the other hand, Abdellah O. was convicted of the rape of Juliette, 35. A "relief", breathed this thirtysomething who nevertheless deplores the acquittal and the reclassification. "I see, once again, a minimization of violence against women. It is impossible for me, therefore, to feel safe in the street," she said. The civil parties struggle to understand that the aggressor of four women is sentenced to only four years in prison instead of the 15 years of criminal imprisonment provided for by law.

"It took me a long time to explain to my client that he would not spend 15 years behind bars. He was expecting a much heavier sentence," said Romuald Sayagh, the defense lawyer, who says he is satisfied with this "balanced and humane decision". "The jurors understood who my client was. Far from the cliché of the predator, he was a lost man, propelled from a village in the far reaches of the Atlas to Paris," he added. Abdellah O., now married and father of two children in Spain, has already spent two years in pre-trial detention, or half the sentence.

*Borrowed first name