While the companion of the accused let out a cry of disappointment upon receiving the verdict, it was relief that predominated on the civil party’s bench. Elodie
19 years old, comforted by her boyfriend and two educators, did not yet seem to understand the moment. By sentencing Sahibe Moumene, 38, to twelve years of criminal imprisonment after four hours of deliberation, the Finistère Assize Court recognized his victim status.
“And it is already very important for her because she is screwed up for life,” warned Me Bertrand Labat, saluting the courage of the young woman who had shed all the tears in her body on the first day of the trial. “It took him enough to file a complaint, at 13 years old. And to ask that the debates be public. It is an encouragement for all raped women. She has nothing to be ashamed of. »
“A multiplicity of clues”
The facts denounced date back to October 9, 2018. Around noon, the fragile young girl, who had been tossed from center to foster home since she was very young, had joined in her Brest apartment the man who had been seeing her mother for several months, and in whom she had ” all confidence”, to the point of calling him dad. She mentions several episodes of penetration on a mattress placed in the bedroom of one of her children. She said nothing for almost a month, until her complaint on November 5, 2018.
The 38-year-old father, who has rebuilt his life near Marseille, has just had a child, no longer sees the other two, and talks about a young girl in love or revenge. “When you love someone, you don’t accuse them of rape,” points out the attorney general, Gabriel Rollin, who requested twelve years of criminal imprisonment. He refutes the principle of a word against word file. “There are a multiplicity of clues which confirm that the rape is well characterized. »
And the magistrate cited the consistency of the complainant’s statements for six years, the medical findings such as the rupture of the hymen dated approximately a month before the complaint, her absence from the college canteen on the day of the rape and the delay when classes resume, the “disturbing” nature of the sexual acts suffered which correspond to those that his mother experienced…
The revenge thesis…
So many arguments swept aside by Me Pierre-Hector Rustique, who pleaded for acquittal. “What did you hear about his guilt?” Just rumors, and we got the psychologists talking. That’s all. There are no concrete elements, apart from his emotion. » The defense lawyer develops a motive. “She has a reason to lie, quite strong. We had a teenage girl in distress, and everything comes together when this substitute father arrives: a father figure, a man for her mother, a brother and a sister. This is Peru. She wants it to last. But he suggests that there is nothing serious, and when she realizes it, tragedy occurs. It’s natural for children to lie to be the center of attention. She did not measure what she was going to trigger. She is a prisoner of it. »
As proof, he targets a video made with “daddy” a few days after the facts. “They both laugh during a meal, she and her rapist. Supposedly to fool his mother. But either she has incredible control or nothing happened before. » The day before, the investigator from the Brest juvenile brigade had assured him that this could happen. “It’s common, I’ve already seen girls raped on their rapist’s knees afterwards. She was just a child. »
…and another date for the rape
Last defense card, a doubt about the date of the rape, an SMS sent by Élodie to a friend referring to the beginning of November. “Which would be more consistent with medical findings. And I remind you that on Halloween night, she slept in the attic of a friend’s house with several young people aged 13 to 16,” the lawyer notes, deliberately.
But in the end, his client, a smooth talker with a southern accent, an impetuous flirt who makes no secret of his love of women and has an answer for everything, will have paid most of all for his personality. “Intolerant of frustration,” say experts. If his record, 14 convictions, does not mention sexual acts or violence against women, most of the residents of the Brest home where he knew Élodie and her mother were not kind to him. “A rooster in the barnyard, he was with everyone at the same time. » “He took advantage of the girls’ fragility. » “A lot attracted to young girls. » “No limits on the sexual level, it was all the time. »
He who appeared free was placed under arrest warrant. He will be placed on the sex offender file. His lawyer has already indicated that he should appeal.
