An Ivorian migrant has been jailed for five years for the rape of a 23-year-old French woman.
The Lorient Criminal Court sentenced Vassindou Junior Méïté on Monday to a custodial sentence after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a young woman who found herself stranded after a night out in the French town back in September 2023.
On Sept. 17, having lost access to her home, the victim accepted an invitation to spend the night in a shared apartment in Lorient. There, Méïté — who was present in the apartment — raped her despite her repeated refusals. According to the court’s findings, the woman was held down and strangled during the attack.
While her screams were reportedly heard by others in nearby rooms and apartments, no one intervened.
After the assault, the victim managed to lock herself in the bathroom and contact friends, who then helped her by calling the police.
At trial, Méïté denied any violence, claiming that the sexual encounter was consensual and attempting to explain away the victim’s injuries as the result of “somewhat rough” but voluntary behavior.
He claimed the allegations were false and accused the victim of crocodile tears as she appeared in court visibly upset and accompanied by her mother.
“I never saw her not cry. No, her tears are not feigned,” her lawyer said in response to the defendant’s remarks.
The attack has reportedly had a long-lasting psychological impact on the victim, who has difficulty sleeping and now has an overreliance on alcohol.
Méïté’s version of events was contradicted by medical reports, which documented visible signs of strangulation, bruises, and finger marks, consistent with forceful assault.
This conviction was not Méïté’s first encounter with the justice system. At the time of the Lorient rape, he was already under judicial supervision for another rape allegation. In that earlier case, prosecutors chose to reclassify the charge as sexual assault, reportedly to spare the victim, in a fragile psychological state, from the trauma of testifying in an assize court, which would have required a much larger trial by jury.
Méïté ultimately faced no trial in that case due to a dismissal of proceedings.
The court in Lorient sentenced him to five years in prison, accompanied by a 10-year ban from French territory upon his release.
Beyond the courtroom, the case has triggered debate over the media’s portrayal of such crimes. Breizh-Info noted how several media outlets referred to Méïté only as a “Briochin,” a resident of Saint-Brieuc, omitting his Ivorian nationality until the final paragraphs — if mentioned at all.
This is evidenced in a report by Le Télégramme, which led with the line: “A 21-year-old man from Brioche was sentenced on Monday, April 28, by the court of Lorient, to 5 years in prison for the rape of a woman from Lorient in September 2023.”