Last week, a man was given a suspended sentence by the Saarbrücken Regional Court. Attalah A., now 28, worked on a temporary basis at a snack bar on Saarbrücken’s Rathausplatz square in 2017. One night in June, the then 14-year-old victim came into the shop and wanted to use the toilet. While the girl went to the toilet, the Syrian locked the shop and hindered the girl from leaving.
He went to the kitchen with her, allegedly to give her something. There he took off some of his clothes and asked the 14-year-old to perform sexual acts. Out of fear, she did as she was told. During the offence, the accused also touched the minor underneath her clothes and left genetic traces. Security was increased for the trial at the juvenile court. The defence lawyer of the 28-year-old initially provided a different version of events for her client.
According to this, everything had happened consensually. A version that the presiding judge, Thomas Emanuel, could not believe. Among other things, video recordings from the surveillance camera cast doubt on the accused’s version of events, the judge said. The victim had already suffered severely psychologically before the crime due to his private life circumstances. Testifying in court would therefore have meant an extremely high burden for the teenager.
A sister and her mother appeared in court in her place. The accused agreed with them to pay 7,500 euros in compensation for pain and suffering. In addition, the 28-year-old retracted his fabricated version of the crime and, after some hesitation, made a far-reaching confession in court. This was the only reason why the court finally granted a suspended sentence with a period of probation lasting two years.