Serial Rapist Known as ’Tinder Predator’ Gets 18-Year Prison Sentence in Paris

After two weeks of trial, the departmental criminal court of Paris sentenced Salim Berrada to 18 years of criminal imprisonment with two-thirds security period and a permanent ban from French territory, reports Le Parisien. Of the 17 rapes and sexual assaults he was accused of, the "Tinder rapist" was found guilty of twelve rapes and three sexual assaults. He was acquitted of one rape and one sexual assault, "the court considering that the facts were not sufficiently characterized".

The facts were committed between 2014 and 2016, during photo shoot sessions in the studio of the convicted person located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. The former Moroccan photographer has always denied the facts. But the criminal court sentenced him to this sentence "both necessary and proportionate to the seriousness of the facts and the extent of the harm to the many victims" for various reasons, including the "addiction to sex" established by the personality experts, explains the president Thierry Fusina.

The court also took into account "the particularly elaborate, organized" nature, the "proven modus operandi", the "worrying serial character" of the committed crimes, as well as the "multiplication of facts in an increasingly short time, especially in 2016". The "importance of the moral prejudices" of the victims, "very young women", the "risk of recurrence" and "criminological dangerousness" are also elements taken into account by the court to render its verdict.

Described by the public prosecutor Philippe Courroye as a "cold monster", "alone against all" and "bunkerized in his denials", Salim Berrada was "inaudible" faced "with the wall of the accusation", regretted his lawyers, Mes Irina Kratz and Ambroise Vienet-Legué, who had asked the court "not to doubt the sincerity of Salim Berrada in his explanations". The defense claims that his client did not set up a "stratagem" or a "Berrada method" consisting of drugging women to rape them.

"I would just like to say that the monster that has been portrayed for two weeks is not me. I would just like to be judged for what I have done, no more, no less," the Moroccan said to the court before the deliberation. To the alleged victims, he said he was "deeply sorry for all the harm I may have caused each of you. I never wanted to humiliate anyone. I hope this will be heard and that you