Berlin: 17-year-old raped in a hotel room

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Court in Moabit

Photo: Fabian Sommer / dpa

The Berlin regional court has convicted four men of raping a 17-year-old.

The court imposed youth sentences of between two and a half and almost three years.

The young person was in a state in which she could not consent to or refuse sexual acts, it said in the grounds for the verdict against a 20-year-old. According to witnesses, she lay on the bed and slept. The defendants had filmed some of the events with their cell phones, it said. The videos would stunned.

Before the alleged rape at the end of October 2019 in Berlin-Mitte, the defendants, several of whom had traveled from North Rhine-Westphalia, are said to have celebrated with other acquaintances in a hotel room.

The then 17-year-old, who had not yet known the men, was invited to the party by a friend, according to the court.

The 20 and 21-year-olds who have now been convicted spontaneously decided to act around two in the morning.

One after the other, they raped the teenagers.

Defendants spoke of consensual sex

A 20-year-old received the highest sentence of two years and ten months in prison.

A fifth defendant was acquitted.

The judges essentially followed the pleadings of the public prosecutor's office, which had called for sentences of around three years for all of the defendants.

The defense lawyers had pleaded for acquittal.

Her clients had stated that they had consensual sex with the 17-year-old.

The process has been going on for three months, in part closed to the public, and now the final verdict has been reached.

The decisions are not yet final.

ptz / dpa