In a case of abuse involving an arranged marriage with a twelve-year-old child, the Essen Regional Court sentenced a 31-year-old man to four years in prison. The defendant was found guilty of aiding and abetting serious sexual abuse of a child in 18 cases, as a court spokesman in the North Rhine-Westphalian city announced on Tuesday regarding the verdict, which had already been announced last week. The marriage, which was conducted according to Islamic law, is said to have been arranged by the defendant, among others.
The 31-year-old also financed the illegal marriage of the 12-year-old to the now 24-year-old. According to the indictment, he thereby supported the subsequent acts of abuse. Between December 2021 and the end of April 2023, according to the indictment, sexual abuse and attempts thereof occurred on multiple occasions against the child’s will and with the use of force.
The 24-year-old had already been sentenced to five and a half years in juvenile detention for the offences. The verdict against the 31-year-old was handed down last Thursday.