Duration of a rape is never to be judged in favor of the perpetrator
Published: Tuesday, Oct 15th 2024, 12:20
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The duration of a rape must never be taken into account in favor of the perpetrator when sentencing. This was emphasized by the Federal Supreme Court in a case from the canton of Valais published on Tuesday.
Conversely, it may well have an aggravating effect on the offender's guilt if the length of the offense indicates increased criminal energy.
The Federal Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a 51-year-old Portuguese man. He argued that the Valais cantonal court should have assessed his guilt more leniently when sentencing him due to the short duration of the crime.
He referred to a case from the canton of Basel-Stadt in which the Court of Appeal had referred to the duration of the offense, among other things, in its reasoning.
"Inappropriate formulation"
Today, the Federal Supreme Court describes its own formulation of the Basel case as an isolated and inappropriate formulation. At the time, it had written: "It is therefore in accordance with federal law that the lower court did not deal further with the (relatively short) rape."
The highest Swiss court states that the term "rape of short duration" is an absurdity. The violation of the protected legal interest is caused from the first moment of the sexual act.
Victims on the way home
In 2023, the perpetrator overpowered a woman who was on her way home. They had previously met in a bar. On appeal by the public prosecutor, the lower court sentenced him to 42 months' imprisonment. It also issued an expulsion order for ten years.
The district court had sentenced the man to a partial prison sentence of 30 months. He was to serve half of this.
The convicted man never attended school, as the Federal Court's ruling shows. He is single and has ten children from six different women. At the time of the offense, he was working in Switzerland, where he had previously been employed. (Judgement 6B_612/2024 of 18.9.2024)
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