French court reduces sentence for Muslim boy who raped French Jewish girl

The appeals court said they needed to take into account “the personality of the minor and the need to prepare for future reintegration.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A French court reduced the sentence of a Muslim boy due to his reported “need to prepare for future reintegration.”

Three boys were charged with the gang rape of a girl in 2024, receiving sentences of nine and seven years for two who were 13 years old at the time of the attack.

A third boy was under 12 when he participated in the sexual assault and was sentenced to five years in a secure educational facility.

On Tuesday, the Versailles Court of Appeal retried the boy who was serving the nine-year sentence and commuted it to seven.

“The court took into account the entire case as provided for by law: the facts, their seriousness, but also the personality of the minor and the need to prepare for future reintegration,” said his lawyer, Melody Blanc.

The lawyers for the victim, Muriel Ouaknine-Melki and Oudy Bloch, told AFP, “The main thing is that she has managed to bring the perpetrators of her attack to justice and that two of them are imprisoned,” and praised “the courage of [their] client.”

The victim was under 15 at the time of the sexual assault.

While she was walking, the victim was ambushed by the boys. The victim’s mother told Le Parisien that one of the attackers said, “I know you’re not Muslim … So, what religion are you?” and then called her a “dirty Jew.”

Following the attack, “Before letting her leave, they made her swear on Allah not to say anything and that she should not tell anyone, neither her parents nor the police,” her mother added.

The youngest perpetrator was an ex-boyfriend of the girl and was thought to have planned and orchestrated the attack.

Local media reported that the boys filmed the attack and allegedly demanded 200 euros from the girl to prevent them from circulating the video — which they did.

The footage was sent to the girl’s current boyfriend with the message, “Look at your chick.” In response, the boyfriend informed the girl’s parents about the incident, who found her shortly after the attack.